INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Non-Governmental Organisations

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list non- governmental organisations operating in the south-west region that receive public funds from her Department; and what amount of annual funding they received in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Clare Short: We have offered funding support to the following organisations in the south-west during the financial year 2001–02.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Action on Disability and Development 422,908 
			 Action for Conservation through Tourism 83,030 
			 African Initiatives 62,695 
			 Motivation 28,815 
			 Prompt 10,206 
			 Resources Project 34,330 
			 Development Education in Dorset 95,005 
			 GLADE Global and Development Education 16,095 
			 Gloucestershire Development Education Centre 105,333 
			 Cornish Association for Development Education 4,875 
			 Somerset Goes Global, county council 99,120 
			 Gloucestershire county council 17,000 
			 Gloucester Development Education Centre 31,674 
		
	
	The total amount of funding offered for 2001–02 is £1,011,086.

Capita Group

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by the Department.

Clare Short: The information requested is in the table.
	
		
			  Contract £ 
		
		
			 Capita RAS Recruitment consultants for Pillar IV of United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo 180,000 
			  Open recruitment exercise for DFID 15,101 
			
			 Capital Business Services Ethiopia police development assistance programme 1,204,616 
			
			 Capita Grosvenor Ltd. Assistance with resource accounting and budgeting overview training 34,377 
			  Efficiency scrutiny of accounts department 34,050

Angola

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Angola, with particular respect to children; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: The humanitarian consequences of the continuing conflict in Angola are appalling. The forced displacement of people by both sides continues, with children and other vulnerable groups bearing the brunt of the suffering. The death of Jonas Savimbi may provide a chance for the Government and UNITA to make a lasting peace and we urge both sides to respond to this opportunity. The UK has contributed £2.5 million in the last year to the humanitarian relief effort through UN agencies and NGOs, as well as our contribution through the EU.

Press and Public Relations

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people were employed in a press or public relations function in her Department on 1 January in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000, (e) 2001 and (f) 2002.

Clare Short: We currently employ four press officers, and this number of posts has remained the same since January 1997. We also have small teams working to raise awareness and understanding of international development issues through educational work, publications, policy forums and other related activities.

Press Releases

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many press releases were issued by her Department (a) between 1 May and 31 December 1997 and (b) in each year from 1998 to 2001 inclusive.

Clare Short: The number of press releases issued is as follows:
	
		
			   Number issued 
		
		
			 1997(1) 47 
			 1998 74 
			 1999 82 
			 2000 29 
			 2001 38 
		
	
	(1) May to December

South Africa

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with Ministers in the South African Government with regard to the HIV/AIDS situation in South Africa.

Clare Short: During my last visit to South Africa in October 2001, I met Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who heads the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) to discuss the HIV/AIDS situation in South Africa. I also discussed the situation with former President Nelson Mandela.

South Africa

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to provide support and assistance to the Nations Trust in South Africa.

Clare Short: My Department has no plans to provide support and assistance to the Nations Trust in South Africa.

South Africa

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent meetings her Department (a) has had and (b) proposes to have with the Nations Trust in South Africa.

Clare Short: My Department has had no meetings with the Nations Trust in South Africa. No such meetings are planned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Breast-Feeding

Jean Corston: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if she will make a statement about breast-feeding facilities in the House.

Marion Roe: The Administration Committee recommended to Mr. Speaker that the House should give a lead to the country in promoting breast-feeding by allowing mothers to feed their babies wherever it is appropriate to them in the Palace of Westminster and associated buildings; that suitable, non-toilet facilities should be made available for feeding babies; and that staff should be provided with information in order that they can answer queries from breast-feeding mothers about available facilities.
	On the Speaker's instructions the Serjeant at Arms has undertaken a comprehensive study with a view to improving the facilities that are available in the House for nursing mothers. The study has identified a number of improvements. I will ask the Administration Committee to examine these at its next meeting with a view to recommending early implementation.
	Mr. Speaker has informed the Committee that, after undertaking broadly-based consultations within the House, he has decided to make no change to the current regulations under which breast-feeding is not permitted in the Chamber, in Committees or in the public galleries.
	A copy of Mr. Speaker's letter and details of the improvements identified by the Sergeant at Arms have been placed in the Library.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Peter Bottomley: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many days were added to the pay of the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after 1 January.

Archy Kirkwood: Details of pay for any individual employed by the House of Commons Commission are confidential. I refer the hon. Gentleman to my previous reply to him, 27 January 2002, Official Report, column 1277W.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Peter Bottomley: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will make a statement on how and when the Commission first had the information that the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was not being paid for every day she was working.

Archy Kirkwood: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 2 May 2001, Official Report, columns 640–41W. The House as a good employer would always wish to ensure that work done is properly remunerated. Arrangements to reimburse the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards were made administratively following claims submitted by her, as the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Mr. Bell) informed the House on 13 February 2002, Official Report, column 267.

TREASURY

National Insurance Fund

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the expenditure of the excess surplus in the National Insurance Fund for each of the past four years.

Dawn Primarolo: Any balance in the Fund is invested. Estimates of the income from investments in specific years are given in the Government Actuary's annual report on the level of the Fund.

Taxation

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the tax burden was in real terms at the end of financial years (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2000–01.

Andrew Smith: Historical series of net taxes and social security contributions as a per cent. of GDP are available in table B22 of the November 2001 pre-Budget report.

Euro

David Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the value of euro-based transactions in the United Kingdom since the introduction of the currency.

Ruth Kelly: The Government have not made any estimate of the value of euro-based transactions in the UK.
	It is entirely a commercial decision for UK business to determine whether or not they wish to accept the euro or any other foreign currency.

Guaranteed Equity Bond

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the accounting arrangements are for National Savings and Investments' Guaranteed Equity Bond.

Ruth Kelly: As with most other National Savings and Investments instruments, the Guaranteed Equity Bond is a liability of the National Loans Fund (NLF). In order to avoid exposing the Exchequer to movements in equity prices, a matching equity index swap is being executed on the Debt Management Account (DMA) and managed by the debt management office.
	Both NLF and DMA accounting officers are content that appropriate risk management processes are in place and that, overall, the GEB will provide cost-effective financing for the Government that is consistent with National Savings and Investments' primary role.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether capital expenditure on London Underground by means of (a) private sector companies and (b) bond funding raised by London Underground falls within the general Government financial deficit; whether such capital expenditure is included in the public sector borrowing requirement; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Capital expenditure by London Underground Ltd. (LUL), financed by its own borrowing, would increase public sector net borrowing. It would not increase general Government net borrowing because LUL is a public corporation: these are outside general Government but inside the public sector.
	In accordance with generally accepted accounting practice, capital invested in London Underground (LUL) by the private sector would not count as public expenditure, and would not be included in the public sector net borrowing, if LUL's accountants and auditors judged that the assets should be off LUL's balance sheet. If the accountants judged it was on balance sheet then it would count as public expenditure and be included in public sector net borrowing. The PPP saves £2 billion of public money over the first 15 years of the contracts, in comparison to funding the same projects through conventional public investment. The plans will mean £16 billion of investment over the next 15 years.

Advertising

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the expenditure was per campaign for the five most expensive media advertising campaigns his Department undertook in the past five parliamentary Sessions including the current parliamentary Session in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and for the last two parliamentary Sessions and the current Session, when each advertising campaign (i) began and (ii) ended in (A) Scotland, (B) England, (C) Wales and (D) Northern Ireland;
	(2)  what the cost was of media advertising in each of the past five parliamentary Sessions including the current Session, for his Department in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland; and for the last two parliamentary Sessions and the current parliamentary Session, what the media advertising expenditure was per month in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 423W, and also to the answer given to the then hon. Member for Guildford (Mr. St. Aubyn) on 18 May 2000, Official Report, column 258W, by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary.
	As to further breakdown of expenditure, such figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Lakshmi Mittal

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason (a) Mr. Lakshmi Mittal and (b) LNM Holdings do not pay tax in the United Kingdom.

Dawn Primarolo: Under Section 182 of the Finance Act 1989 the Inland Revenue cannot comment on the tax position of particular individuals or companies.

Foreign Nationals (Tax Status)

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will implement his plan to end non-domiciled tax status for foreign nationals resident in the UK.

Dawn Primarolo: The Chancellor keeps all aspects of the tax system under review.

Staff Promotion

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the criteria are for the promotion of staff in HM Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland who have served less than one year in their previous job band.

Paul Boateng: The criteria for the promotion of staff in HM Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland vary depending on the specific job requirements, as defined in the role profile for each job, and the business requirements which the vacancy seeks to address.
	Staff serving less than one year in their current job band may apply for a post in a higher job band providing they meet the criteria for the post and their conduct, performance and attendance clearly meet the required standards. In a promotional situation no time in band restriction applies.

Smaller Quoted Companies

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the barriers to institutional and retail investment in smaller quoted companies.

Dawn Primarolo: A number of assessments have been made. The Government commissioned the Myners Review in 2000 to look at factors that may be distorting the investment decision-making of institutions. The Review reported in March 2001 and found weaknesses in the investment process that affected all quoted companies, including smaller quoted companies. In addition, a working group on smaller quoted companies was set up in August 1998 and reported to the Treasury in October 1998. The Department of Trade and Industry also participated in two tranches of work dealing with SQC issues with findings from both published in 1999.

Smaller Quoted Companies

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if a platform to encourage a wider shareholder base actively interested in investing in smaller quoted companies has been established.

Dawn Primarolo: In 1995 the London stock exchange created the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). This has helped to create a focus to encourage investor interest in smaller quoted companies with growth potential. Over 850 companies have used AIM since it was created. The Government have taken further steps to encourage investment in smaller quoted companies by introducing attractive capital gains tax taper relief for investors investing in AIM.

Tax Losses

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the tax losses due to tax-free non-domicile status in each of the last three full financial years, distinguishing between the general categories of taxation.

Dawn Primarolo: Individuals who are not domiciled here are liable on UK income and gains as they arise and on overseas income and gains which are remitted or brought to this country.
	Any estimate of comparative tax yield would depend on what it was assumed would apply in place of the current rules.

Rail Journeys (Staff)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that rail journeys undertaken by staff in his Department should ordinarily be on standard class tickets.

Ruth Kelly: Treasury officials' travel is carried out in accordance with Paragraph 8.2.1. of the 'Civil Service Management Code'.

Pensioners

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total cost to the Exchequer of NIC rebates for those contracting out of the state earnings related pension scheme; and if he will provide separate estimates for (a) employees and (b) employers, identifying within each subtotal the rebates applicable in the case of (i) salary-related schemes and (ii) money-purchase schemes.

Ruth Kelly: This information is contained in the "Report by the Government Actuary on the Social Security Benefits Uprating Order 2002 and the Social Security Contributions Re-rating and National Insurance Funds Payments 2002" (Cm 5383).

Gender Pay Gap

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the extent of the gender pay gap among staff in his Department.

Ruth Kelly: In response to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) task force "Just Pay" report, the Government have committed Departments and agencies to review their pay systems by April 2003 and prepare action plans to close any equal pay gaps. The Cabinet Office issued comprehensive guidance in January 2002 to assist Departments and agencies in carrying out these reviews. All Departments and agencies have until April 2003 to complete an equal pay review and prepare the necessary action plans to close any equal pay gaps.
	The Inland Revenue has begun analysing its pay systems with a view to identifying any gender pay gaps. HM Treasury will shortly be developing their strategy for carrying out the review. HM Customs and Excise will be carrying out an equal pay audit during 2002.

Inflation

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the basket of items used to calculate inflation was last reviewed; and what changes were made.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. John Bercow, dated 7 March 2002
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking when the basket of items used to calculate inflation was last reviewed; and what changes were made. I am replying in his absence.
	The Retail Prices Index (RPI) is the main domestic measure of inflation in the UK. In order to keep the RPI basket representative of consumer spending patterns it is reviewed and updated annually.
	The RPI basket was last updated in February 2001. The changes were published in a News Release on 19th March 2001, the day before the publication of the February 2001 RPI figures. I enclose a copy of this News Release, which is also available on the National Statistics website.
	The next changes to the basket will be announced in a News Release on the 18th March 2002, one day before the publication of the February 2002 RPI figures. The News Release will be available on the ONS website at www.statistics.gov.uk.

Open Market Annuity Options

Tim Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to publicise open market annuity options to savers and financial advisers.

Ruth Kelly: The FSA already draw the attention of annuitants to the advantages of the open market option in their explanatory material for those buying a pension annuity.
	In addition, the FSA has consulted recently on proposals that firms should be obliged to tell their personal pensions customers, at an appropriate time before their retirement, that their annuities can be bought from a different provider firm. This proposal is designed to ensure that consumers are made aware of their right to shop around to get the best annuity deal on offer to suit their circumstances.
	The FSA's consultation process (which started in August 2001) recently closed. The FSA plans to publish the results of the exercise, with its decisions on next steps, shortly.
	The Association of British Insurers (ABI) issued, also in August 2001, a "Statement of Good Practice for Pension Maturities".
	The ABI standards give further detail about how in practice provider firms offering pension saving and income products should communicate with their customers. The guidelines should ensure that customers are more aware of the choices available to them when they begin their retirement, and are thus able to make more educated choices.
	The Modernising Annuities consultation paper published by the Inland Revenue and Department for Work and Pensions in February 2002 also explains how exercising the open market option can help pensioners get better value from their pension savings. It discusses how those benefits might be more widely understood, and whether there are any further steps that might be taken to encourage people to use the open market option. The Government are keen that those with an interest think creatively about this and other ways that the annuities market might be made to work better, and would encourage those with views to submit responses to the consultation.

Contributions Agency

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the availability of staff at the Contributions Agency to people calling by telephone; and if he will make a statement.
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the time taken by the Contributions Agency to provide information; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to page 112 of the Inland Revenue's annual report for the year ending 31 March 2001, which was presented to Parliament by the Paymaster General in December 2001.

Contributions Agency

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the accuracy and consistency of information provided by the Contributions Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to pages 111 and 112 of the Inland Revenue's annual report for the year ending 31 March 2001, which was presented to Parliament by the Paymaster General in December 2001.

Spirits Frauds

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies he has commissioned into the experience of other countries in using tax stamps to deter and prevent spirits frauds.

Paul Boateng: HM Customs and Excise are considering a wide range of issues as part of their on-going consultation on the costs, benefits and practicalities of introducing a tax stamps system, including the experience of other countries.

DEFENCE

Reserve Forces

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he plans a further call-out of members of the reserve forces; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: In order to sustain military operations against terrorism, up to 49 members of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force will be called out compulsorily next month under the call-out order made on 11 October 2001 and Section 54 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996. The majority of those called out will undertake aircraft movements duties at the air transport main operating bases in the UK.
	In addition, a new call-out order has been made under Section 56 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to enable reservists to continue to be called out to support operations in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This took effect from 2 March 2002, the date the previous order expired. Only reservists who volunteer will be called out under this order.
	We continue to call out members of the reserve forces to support operations in the Balkans and the no-fly zones in the region of Iraq; overall they make a very valuable contribution to our operational requirements.

HMS Fearless

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his plans are for HMS Fearless; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: After over 36 years, HMS Fearless, the last steam-driven surface ship in the Royal Navy, will be withdrawn from service upon her return from a successful deployment on operations in support of the campaign against international terrorism later this month.
	Her replacement HMS Albion will commence sea trials later in the year, before entering service in January 2003. HMS Albion and her sister ship HMS Bulwark, which on current plans will enter service towards the end of 2003, will be significantly more capable than their predecessors HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid.
	The new vessels represent a major step forward in the modernisation of our amphibious shipping called for the strategic defence review. They will be equipped with vastly more sophisticated command, control and communication systems. They will also be able to deploy embarked forces much more quickly—by air and sea—and will use landing craft with 20 per cent. more landing capability and a Ro-Ro type configuration for rapid embarkation of vehicles.
	Plans for the disposal of HMS Fearless are currently under review.

Chemical/Biological Weapons

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much expenditure he has incurred in the (a) dismantling, (b) management and (c) verification of (i) chemical and (ii) biological weapons in the states of the former Soviet Union since 1996.

Geoff Hoon: As part of Spending Review 2000, the Government decided to make available up to £12 million over the three years 2001–02 to 2003–04 for assistance to Russia with chemical weapon demilitarisation and biological non-proliferation projects. We have given priority to assistance with chemical weapons destruction, where we plan to support the provision of infrastructure which is needed for the construction and operation of the major chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuch'ye. An essential pre-requisite to allow this work to proceed was negotiation of a legally-binding agreement with the Russian Federation. Following extensive negotiations, I signed the agreement in London on 20 December on behalf of the Government. Dr. Pak, Director-General of the Russian Munitions Agency, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation. We hope to conclude negotiations shortly on the necessary Implementation Arrangement which will allow our first project to proceed in the near future, subject to agreement of contract. Our first project will be to provide a water supply for the destruction facility, which will also benefit the local population. As a result of the need first to complete these sets of negotiations, it has not yet been possible to start implementation of assistance projects. Expenditure of some £250K has been incurred to date on setting up the assistance programme.
	Verification of the destruction of chemical weapons in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention is the responsibility of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in the Hague. There are no agreed provisions for the verification of biological weapons.
	The Ministry of Defence monitors the biological and chemical weapons capabilities of all relevant states. The costs of such monitoring in relation to the states of the former Soviet Union can not be separately identified.

War Graves (Somme)

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the French Government regarding the impact on war graves of the revised proposals to build an international airport on the Somme.

Lewis Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 166W to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson).

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by his Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 22 January 2002
	Records are not kept of the number of occasions on which Defence Ministers have not been able to answer parliamentary questions wholly or in part on grounds of commercial confidentiality. This information could be extracted from the thousands of answers given in a typical year only at disproportionate cost.

European Rapid Reaction Force

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many uniformed staff will be allocated full-time to duties connected with the European rapid reaction force.

Geoff Hoon: There is no standing European rapid reaction force. EU member states have identified a pool of forces from which units could be drawn as necessary for EU-led operations. Forces would be assembled only for the duration of any mission.

Non-Governmental Organisations

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list non-governmental organisations operating in the south-west region that receive public funds from his Department; and what amount of annual funding they received in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lewis Moonie: This information is not held centrally in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am therefore unable to provide a substantive answer under the terms of Exemption 9 (voluminous and vexatious requests) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Defence Projects

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what is (a) the estimated total project cost, (b) the total expenditure to date and (c) the planned expenditure in each of the next three years on (i) the Conventionally Armed Stand-Off Missile project, (ii) the Hercules C130J project, (iii) the Spearfish Heavyweight Torpedo project, (iv) the Astute Class Submarine project, (v) the Nimrod Maritime Reconnaissance and Attack MK4 project, (vi) the Attack Helicopter project, (vii) the Merlin HM MK1 Maritime Helicopter project and (viii) the Eurofighter project;
	(2)  what is (a) the estimated total project cost, (b) the total expenditure to date and (c) the planned expenditure for each of the next three years on the (i) Sting Ray Lightweight Torpedo Life Extension project, (ii) Seawolf Mid-Life Update project, (iii) Swiftsure and Trafalgar Class Submarine Update project, (iv) Merlin MK 3 Helicopter project, (v) Loading Platform Dock (Replacement) project, (vi) Extended Range Ordnance/ Modular Change System project, (vii) Airborne Stand-off Radar project, (viii) Advanced Shortrange air-to-air missile project, (ix) High Velocity Missile project and (x) Tornado Mid-Life Update project.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Underspends

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by how much his Department underspent its expenditure limits in the financial year 2000–01.

Geoff Hoon: The Ministry of Defence underspend against the Departmental Expenditure Limit in financial year 2000–01 was £73 million, less than 0.4 per cent. of the budget for the year. This outcome reflects sound forecasting and management action in the year.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Recycling

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she has made an assessment of the cost of implementing the Government's recycling strategy.

Michael Meacher: Regulatory impact assessments are developed by the Department to assess the costs and benefits of proposed measures to increase recycling. These RIAs are published in consultation documents and are available on the DEFRA website http://www.defra.gov.uk/.

Recycling

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contribution she expects the commercial composting of household waste to make in reaching recycling targets.

Michael Meacher: The Government and the National Assembly have set challenging targets in "Waste Strategy 2000" to recycle or compost at least 25 per cent. of household waste by 2005. We hope that composting will play a major role in helping local authorities reach these targets.

Recycling

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received regarding the implementation of the EU directive on the recycling of refrigerators.

Michael Meacher: We have received a number of representations about the EC regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer. The representations have mostly been from local authorities regarding funding; from retailers about take-back on delivery systems; and from the waste management industry about technical and environmental standards for storage and treatment of refrigerators.

Recycling

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to prepare for implementation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive.

Michael Meacher: My hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and Energy has the lead responsibility for negotiating the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive. However, Ministers and officials in both Departments have been working together closely. An initial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 7 December 2000. A revised RIA is likely to be ready later this month. Both Departments have had significant dialogue with business throughout the negotiation of the directive and will continue this process during the remaining stages of negotiation and while devising implementing regulations.

Recycling

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive.

Michael Meacher: My hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and Energy has the lead responsibility for negotiating the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive. However, Ministers and officials in both Departments have been working together closely. An initial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 7 December 2000. A revised RIA is likely to be ready later this month. Both Departments have had significant dialogue with business throughout the negotiation of the directive and will continue this process during the remaining stages of negotiation and while devising implementing regulations. Based on the principle of producer responsibility, these directives provide that producers will be responsible for financing the costs which arise.

Recycling

Richard Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the plans for recycling plants for refrigerators will be finalised and local authorities informed.

Michael Meacher: Plans for recycling plants for refrigerators are a matter for industry. However, a mobile treatment plant is expected in the country within a week or two and further static treatment plants should be operational by the end of June. The Local Government Association is being kept informed of the progress.

Hazardous Chemicals (Exposure)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to reduce the exposure of farmers to hazardous chemicals.

Michael Meacher: The Government take safety of users of chemicals seriously, and in doing so strictly regulate and enforce the use of chemicals on farms. This is on the basis of scientific advice. Regulation includes an assessment of the risk from exposure of the user to the chemicals, and clear instructions on the personal protective clothing and equipment that must be worn when using specific chemical products.

Livestock Movements

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to make a decision on the control of sheep movement; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Controls on the movement of sheep continue. They were relaxed from 11 February 2002 and may be further relaxed after the lambing period.

Livestock Movements

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the licensing scheme for the movement of livestock.

Elliot Morley: In view of the continued improvement in the disease situation, relaxations in the rules governing animal movement controls were introduced from 11 February 2002.

Beef Exports

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the resumption of beef exports to France.

Elliot Morley: The Government have made it clear that we expect France to comply with the judgment of the European Court of Justice and lift its ban on British beef exports as soon as possible. The Secretary of State has discussed this issue with Commissioner Byrne and we are confident that the Commission will take further action in the court as necessary.

EU Environmental Directives

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her Department's role in the implementation of European directives on the environment at present under consideration.

Michael Meacher: DEFRA has responsibility in the main for ensuring that the UK meets its obligations to implement EU legislation on the environment, and particular responsibility in respect of legislation where we have the policy lead.

IACS

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the delays of the delivery of integrated control and administration system cheques to farmers.

Elliot Morley: IACS payments were not made as early as in previous years and our target of paying at least 96 per cent. of payments was not met by the regulatory deadline of 31 January. This was the result of industrial action in the autumn and winter months. The unions however suspended industrial action on the 11 January and through overtime and some redeployment of staff we succeeded in paying 94 per cent. of AAPS claims by the end of the payment window.

Energy Crops

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's plans to promote the growing of energy crops.

Elliot Morley: The Government have welcomed the publication of the Energy Review by the Performance and Innovation Unit, which draws attention to the key role of renewable energy sources, including energy crops, in moving to a low carbon economy. The Government plan a public consultation on the key recommendations of the report leading to a White Paper in the autumn. This Department has allocated support of £29 million to solid biomass crops through the energy crops scheme, part of the England Rural Development Programme. The Renewables Obligation will permit the co-firing of energy crops with fossil fuels. We are working with other Departments to put in place further schemes with funding of £70 million which will develop markets for biomass, including purpose grown energy crops and material from forests, in heat, combined heat and power and electricity generation.

Rio Plus Ten Conference

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what preparations are being made for the Rio Plus Ten conference.

Michael Meacher: A Cabinet Committee (MISC 18), chaired by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, has been established to coordinate, develop and deliver the Government's strategy for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). DEFRA, working closely with other Departments, is leading on UK preparations. At official level DEFRA chairs a High Level Steering Group, and an Inter-Departmental Group to discuss WSSD. My officials are fully involved in the international preparations for the summit.
	A communications strategy to raise awareness of the summit has also been agreed. We are working closely with local authorities, NGOs, business and other organisations to ensure that we engage a wide range of stakeholders. A key element of our communications strategy is the development of the Government sustainable development website www.sustainable-development.gov.uk, to include information on WSSD.

Water Framework Directive

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the benefits to the UK of the water framework directive.

Michael Meacher: It is difficult to place a financial value on many of the benefits of the Water Framework Directive which include: improvements in the quality and availability of raw water; protection and enhancement of aquatic wildlife; more coherent management of river basins; better targeting of water protection measure; and accountability and transparency in the river basin management planning process.
	A study undertaken in 1998 by consultants on behalf of DETR and the National Assembly for Wales made a preliminary assessment of the value of some of the tangible benefits the directive will bring in informal recreation, angling, general amenity, non-use values and low flow alleviation. On this basis, benefits for England and Wales were estimated at between £1.6 billion and £6.2 billion.
	Implementation of the directive and the assessment of its benefits in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and with respect to the devolved functions in Wales are matters for the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, implementation of the Directive and the assessment of its benefits are being managed wholly by the Scottish Executive the Northern Ireland Executive.

Livestock Markets

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement regarding the impact of the regulations governing animal movements on the viability of livestock markets.

Elliot Morley: I am pleased to say that a number of livestock markets have met the new bio-security rules introduced on 11 February and have now re-opened. I expect more to do so as the disease situation continues to improve. Livestock markets have an important role to play in the marketing of farm animals between the various stages of production and some are developing a broadened range of services to farmers. We will be considering carefully the recommendations from the Policy Commission on future developments in livestock marketing.

Foot and Mouth

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she next expects to meet representatives of the livestock sector to discuss policies to combat further outbreaks of foot and mouth disease.

Elliot Morley: My ministerial colleagues and I meet industry representatives on a regular basis to discuss a range of disease control arrangements.
	The next meeting of the foot and mouth disease stakeholder group will be held on 14 March.
	A high-level imports forum will be held in March to consider the next steps for intensifying our efforts to reduce the risks posed by illegal imports of meat and other animal products, and to agree further priorities and action.

Foot and Mouth

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of deliberately infecting livestock since 20 February 2001;
	(2)  how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) found guilty of obstructing Government culls of livestock since 20 February 2001;
	(3)  how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) found guilty of obstructing Government inspections of farm premises since 20 February 2001.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 February 2002
	There is no specific offence of deliberately infecting livestock at present, although the Animal Health Bill, currently being considered by Parliament, would create such an offence.
	Responsibility for the enforcement of animal health legislation lies with my Department and the local authorities. My Department has taken one prosecution for obstructing a Government inspection of a farm premises. The defendant was found guilty.
	There is currently no complete record of local authority prosecutions taken during the foot and mouth outbreak. However, we are not aware of any local authority prosecution for the above offences. My Department is liaising with the Local Authority Co-ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards (LACOTS) to a compile a complete record of local authority prosecutions.

Foot and Mouth

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what figures she has collated on the origin of those animals destined for re-stocking of UK farms following foot and mouth culls.

Elliot Morley: All animals used for controlled restocking must come from farms which are free from any animal healths restrictions including foot and mouth disease. No figures are collected on the geographical origin of animals used for restocking.

Foot and Mouth

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of animals known to have the foot-and-mouth antibody there have been since 30 September 2001.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 February 2002
	Antibody to foot and mouth disease virus has been detected in 177 animals on 18 farms since 30 September last. All cases were thoroughly investigated and no evidence of foot and mouth virus was found in any of these animals.

Foot and Mouth

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what dates since 30 September 2001 (a) tests have been carried out for foot and mouth disease, (b) the diagnosis of those tests has been received and (c) those animals tested and found to be dangerous contacts have been slaughtered.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 7 March 2002
	Since 30 September, and before, samples have been taken from premises to investigate the presence of foot and mouth virus on a daily basis. Sample types may include the following material; epithelium from the feet and mouth, blood and probang samples. Results from initial tests on epithelium are usually returned within 24 hours of receipt. Results from the completion of final virology and serology tests, if negative, usually take up to four days, sometimes longer.
	There have been 18 cases (farm premises) since 30 September where foot and mouth antibodies have been detected in animals and these animals were slaughtered as dangerous contacts on the dates set out as follows:
	All of these cases were thoroughly investigated and no evidence of foot and mouth virus was found.
	13 October 2001: 1 case
	17 October 2001: 1 case
	24 October 2001: 1 case
	26 October 2001: 1 case
	27 October 2001: 1 case
	31 October 2001: 1 case
	10 November 2001: 3 cases
	13 November 2001: 1 case
	20 November 2001: 1 case
	27 November 2001: 2 cases
	10 December 2001: 1 case
	22 December 2001: 1 case
	9 January 2002: 1 case
	24 January 2002: 1 case
	22 February 2002: 1 case.

Foot and Mouth

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she was informed (a) of the suspected outbreak of foot and mouth on St. Agnes Farm at Hawnby and (b) that veterinary tests proved negative; and what the average time was between testing and negative result during last year's outbreak.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 4 March 2002
	I was notified by my officials of the suspected outbreak of foot and mouth disease on St. Agnes Farm, Hawnby at around 5.00 pm on 26 February and was informed at around 7.00 am the following day, 27 February, that initial tests had returned negative results. Results of the final set of tests were received on 3 March.
	During last year's outbreak, results from initial tests on epithelium were usually returned within 24 hours of receipt. Results from the completion of final virology and serology tests usually took up to four days, although it was not uncommon for a longer period to pass in some circumstances.

Fishing

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she is making in negotiating a derogation for the UK inshore fishing fleet, from this year's increase in fixed-net mesh sizes.

Elliot Morley: Norway and the EU agreed last year to increase mesh sizes in fixed fishing gear from 1 January 2002. We have drawn the Commission's attention to the fact that Norway seems to have exempted its inshore fleet from this requirement. The Commission have raised this with the Norwegian authorities and are awaiting their response.

Fishing

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on recent changes to total allowable catches.

Elliot Morley: The Commission originally proposed large cuts for a wide range of total allowable catches, in many cases going further than science would justify. At the December Fisheries Council, after lengthy negotiations, we achieved an outcome which closely followed the scientific advice. This did not avoid severe measures where they were justified but met the UK's criticisms of what the Commission had proposed.

Fishing

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of low impact fishing methods.

Elliot Morley: The review of the Common Fisheries Policy provides an opportunity to recognise the role of fishermen using selective and environmentally friendly fishing techniques. We raised this issue in our public response to the European Commission's Green Paper on the future of the CFP. We will look to support ways of encouraging low impact fishing in negotiations on the future of the CFP this year.

Flood Defences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects adequate flood defences to be in place to protect Lewes.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 22 January 2002, Official Report, column 803W. I understand that the Environment Agency plans to consult on a preferred option for improved flood alleviation measure for Lewes in May. Subject to relevant consents and funding, the Agency hopes that work will commence in Lewes within 18 months.

Flood Defences

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on plans to improve flood prevention in the vicinity of the River Roding.

Elliot Morley: Operational responsibility rests with the Environment Agency and the London Borough of Redbridge as far as the River Roding catchment is concerned. I understand that, since flooding occurred in October 2000, the Agency has repaired a bank that was overtopped and drawn the attention of Thames Water Utilities to concerns about surface water drains. The Agency has also commissioned consultants to prepare a flood defence strategy for the Roding catchment with a view to identifying sustainable defence options.

Flood Defences

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to improve protection against flooding; and what assistance she is giving to those affected by recent floods.

Elliot Morley: The flood and coastal defence operating authorities have major programmes of work throughout the country to reduce flood risk, supported by ever increasing Government funding. DEFRA support for flood and coastal defence will increase by over 70 per cent. from £66 million in 2000–01 to £114 million in 2003–04. The overall annual expenditure on flood and coastal defence in England now exceeds £400 million.

Air Pollution

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the rate of progress in achieving the Government's targets on air pollution.

Michael Meacher: We are broadly on track to meet our policy objectives for carbon monoxide, benzene, 1,3 butadiene, lead and sulphur dioxide, but we will need to do more to meet our targets for nitrogen dioxide, particles and ozone. Emissions of most pollutants have fallen over the last decade, and levels of air pollution are falling steadily in most urban areas of the UK. The headline air quality indicator, which gives the total number of days of poor air quality recorded each year through our national monitoring network, shows a steady reduction in the total number of days of poor urban air quality from 59 days in 1993 (when the dataset began) to 21 days in 2001. The pattern in rural areas is less clear since the main pollutant in rural areas is ozone, which is strongly influenced by the weather and by emissions of ozone precursors in continental Europe.

Fuel Poverty

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department is taking to combat fuel poverty among people in rural areas.

Michael Meacher: The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy, published in November last year, set out the Government's goal to seek and end to fuel poverty, with the first target to ensure that by 2010, no vulnerable household need risk ill health due to a cold home.
	The strategy's aim is to improve the energy efficiency of fuel poor households, to maintain the downward pressure on fuel bills, to tackle poverty and social exclusion.
	The fuel poor in rural areas will benefit from these measures and from a number of pilot projects to help homes that are off the mains gas network and pilot the use of micro Combined Heat and Power.

Slaughtered Farm Animals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm animals have been slaughtered since 30 September 2001; and what the reasons for their slaughter were.

Elliot Morley: In total 6,113 animals have been slaughtered since the last case of foot and mouth disease on 30 September 2001. These animals have been slaughtered as either dangerous contacts as a result of sero-positive blood samples or as slaughter on suspicion cases.
	Source: DEFRA's disease control system database as at 4 March 2002. Figures may be subject to revision as more data becomes available and as DEFRA's data cleansing exercise is carried out.

Ministerial Speeches

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many public speeches on agriculture she has given since her appointment; and how many of them were made to audiences of farmers and those working in agriculture.

Margaret Beckett: Since my appointment in June I have made three major speeches on agriculture, all to farming audiences. In addition I have made six other speeches, for example while on regional visits or on visits abroad, in which agricultural issues have been addressed. The audience for some of those speeches included farmers. I have also attended six Agriculture Councils and spoke at last December's EU conference on FMD in Brussels.

Aquatic Pursuits

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consider making Environment Agency funding to improve angling opportunities dependent on improving access for non-powered craft to the same waters.

Alun Michael: It is difficult to see how this would work. The Government provide grant-in-aid to meet the general duty of maintaining, improving and developing fisheries rather than to improve angling opportunities specifically. There is no specific requirement to improve angling opportunities when doing recreation or navigation work that benefits non-powered craft.

Plastic Sheeting

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the scheme that provided a free collection service of plastic sheeting for farmers was stopped; and what the cost of the scheme was in its last 12 months.

Michael Meacher: A self-financing voluntary scheme for the collection of farm plastics operated between 1994 and 1997. The scheme operated by charging producers of farm plastics a levy of £100 per tonne. I understand that the scheme collapsed because some importers of this material refused to participate. Collection of farm plastics is still carried out by a small number of local voluntary schemes.

Toxic Substances

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what environmental inspections are made of (a) contaminated, (b) radiated and (c) toxic material associated with the Ministry of Defence and defence equipment plants.

Lewis Moonie: I have been asked to reply.
	It is the policy of the Ministry of Defence to comply with all environmental legislation and only to invoke exemptions from such legislation where compliance would adversely affect military operations. Issues of pollution prevention and control, including those related to contaminated, radioactive and toxic material, are addressed within the framework of the Department's overarching safety management system.
	Guidance on the management of safety and environmental protection in the Ministry of Defence, including liaison with pollution control authorities and other regulatory bodies on inspections of our sites, and any activities which may impact on the environment, is published in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 418 (the Environment Manual). JSP 392 (Instructions for Radiation Protection) an JSP 375 (the MOD Health and Safety Handbook) also contain guidance and information on these issues. Copies of these three publications are in the Library of the House.

PRIME MINISTER

Cabinet Committees

Claire Ward: To ask the Prime Minister what the membership is of each Cabinet Committee.

Tony Blair: Since the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Jones) and my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 10 July 2001, Official Report, column 452W, I have established six new Cabinet Committees and made a number of minor changes to the membership and terms of reference of existing Cabinet Committees. I have placed a copy of the current list of Cabinet Committees, their membership and terms of reference in the Library of the House. Details will also be updated on the Cabinet Office website.

Public Services

Patrick Hall: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Government's strategy for the reform of the public services.

Tony Blair: I am today publishing a pamphlet, entitled "Reforming Public Services: Principles into Practice", which sets out the Government's strategy. Copies of this document have been placed in the Libraries of the House today.

Volunteers

Bob Russell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2001, Official Report, column 701W, on voluntary work, how many members of staff he had in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001.

Tony Blair: For figures for 2001 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 8W. As of 1 September 2000 170 staff were on the No. 10 payroll.

Special Advisers

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister how many civil servants reported within his office ultimately to a special adviser on 1 January and in (a) 1998, (b) 2000 and (c) 2002; and what proportion they represented of all civil servants at No. 10 Downing Street.

Tony Blair: The Order in Council in 1997 provides for my Chief of Staff and my Director of Communications and Strategy to manage civil servants. No other special advisers in No. 10 manage civil servants directly. I also refer the hon. Gentleman to the No. 10 organogram, a copy of which is in the House Library.

Jo Moore

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister what evidence he has collated of civil servants in the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions undermining the credibility of Jo Moore.

Tony Blair: I have nothing to add to the detailed statements made by the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and his permanent secretary.

Chief Press Officer

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister when his officials were informed that exchanges involving the Chief Press Officer of the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, about announcements on Friday 15 February, were not as suggested at his spokesman's lobby briefing the previous morning; when he informed the President of the Council of this; and who was responsible for the inaccuracy.

Tony Blair: The PMOS has fully explained the position in the lobby. Copies of the lobby notes are available on the Number 10 website. The President of the Council has made his position clear and I refer the hon. Member to his personal statement on 28 February 2002, Official Report, column 842.

Steel Imports

John Whittingdale: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with President Bush about the possible imposition of tariffs on steel imports by the United States; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) in the House on 6 March 2002, Official Report, columns 281–82.

Privacy and Data Sharing Report

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Prime Minister when the PIU will issue its privacy and data sharing report.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 204W.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Lost/Stolen Property

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list those items valued at more than £50 which have been stolen or lost from her Department in each of the last four years.

Patricia Hewitt: The Department of Trade and Industry's log of missing items is a mix of lost, stolen or misplaced items belonging to the Department or its workforce. In the majority of cases the value of items is not recorded and it is not possible to answer this question in detail without incurring disproportionate cost. However, I refer the hon. Member to parliamentary questions answered on 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 847W and on 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1071W.

Postal Services

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to ensure the universal postal delivery service in rural areas since the publication of the Postcomm report on competition in postal services.

Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber (Mr. Stewart) on 26 February 2002, Official Report, column 1125W.
	Postcomm's document "Proposals for effective competition in UK postal services", published on Thursday 31 January, is a public consultation and we would expect concerns about the universal service obligation to be thoroughly considered as part of the consultation process.

Postcodes

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what means the Post Office enables the public to consult a list of alpha-numeric postcode suffixes matched to a word-based local descriptor; and if she will place such a list covering Northern Ireland postcodes in the Library.

Douglas Alexander: I am informed by Consignia that postcode information is available from a number of sources; online at www.postcodes.royalmail.com and through a telephone helpline charged at local rates. Postal address books are available at public libraries. Postal address books for local postcodes are available to businesses free of charge and to members of the public for a small fee.

Renewable Energy

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her Department's plans to encourage the use of renewable energy.

Brian Wilson: The Government are providing substantial support to industry to encourage the use of renewable energy.
	Introducing the new renewables obligation, exempting renewables from the climate change levy and protecting existing non-fossil fuel obligation (NFFO) contracts will together create a long-term market incentive for renewables worth over £1 billion per year by 2010.
	We are underpinning the obligation with direct Government funding for renewables worth over £260 million between 2001 and 04. We are setting up extensive capital grants programmes, in particular for offshore wind and energy crops projects, initiating a major photovoltaics demonstration programme, and boosting research and development.
	We recently introduced an order to allow locational flexibility for NFFO 3, 4 and 5 projects that have not yet been commissioned. This will allow more appropriate locations to be found in order to overcome problems in securing planning permission.
	We have initiated studies of each UK region's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources. Once all these assessments are completed, it is expected that specific regional targets for renewable energy will be adopted across the UK. We are also publishing an overview of those regional assessments.
	The Government are also exploring the scope for upgrading the electricity distribution system to enable the UK's huge renewable energy resources to be exploited to the full. For example, an initial study of the feasibility of an underwater cable to connect parts of the western seaboard of the UK directly to the national grid has recently been completed. We shall be moving to a more detailed study of all the options and their costs.

EU Delegations (Scottish Ministers)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether a Scottish Executive Minister will be a member of the UK delegation to the Internal Market, Consumer Affairs and Tourism European Union Council of Ministers meeting on 1 March; and what information is being provided by her Department to guarantee effective pre-council scrutiny by the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 4 March 2002
	I represented the UK at the Internal Market, Consumer Affairs and Tourism Council on 1 March. It is the responsibility of the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the Scottish Executive's involvement in preparations for EU Council meetings. These arrangements are a matter for the Committee and the Scottish Executive. The Department provides information to Scottish Executive officials as part of that process.

Print Industry

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to implement the seven aims of the UK print industry contained in the recent report 'Print 21: Coming of Age'.

Douglas Alexander: The seven aims contained in the report "Print 21; Coming of Age" are addressed not to Government, but to the printing industry itself. The industry has formed a steering group to take forward the seven aims and I am pleased to say that the Department is part-funding a project proposed by the group to draw up a strategy to achieve this.

Exchange Direct

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports her Department has produced on Exchange Direct during the last year; and if she will make them available to the police investigation into the company.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 4 March 2002
	The Department has produced no reports on Exchange Direct plc.
	A winding up order was made against the company on 23 January 2002 and the Official Receiver is now responsible for investigating the reasons for the company's failure and the conduct of its directors. The Official Receiver is aware of the police investigation and will provide assistance as appropriate.

Bankruptcies

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bankruptcies there were in each of the last 20 years.

Melanie Johnson: The number of bankruptcy orders made in each of the last twenty years is as follows:
	
		Bankruptcies
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1982 5,319 
			 1983 6,576 
			 1984 7,726 
			 1985 6,730 
			 1986 7,093 
			 1987 6,994 
			 1988 7,717 
			 1989 8,138 
			 1990 12,058 
			 1991 22,632 
			 1992 32,106 
			 1993 31,016 
			 1994 25,634 
			 1995 21,933 
			 1996 21,803 
			 1997 19,892 
			 1998 19,647 
			 1999 21,611 
			 2000 21,550 
			 2001 23,477

Bankruptcies

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average time was for a bankrupt to be discharged in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: Bankrupts are discharged under the terms of the section 279 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Bankrupts are generally discharged three years after the commencement of the bankruptcy except in the following circumstances:
	Where the court has issued a certificate for summary administration of the bankrupt's estate (and that has not been revoked before discharge), the bankrupt will be discharged two years after the commencement of the bankruptcy.
	Where an individual has been an undischarged bankrupt at any time in the period 15 years ending with the commencement of the bankruptcy or where an individual is subject to a criminal bankruptcy order, an application for discharge has to be made to the court, but not until at least five years after the commencement of the bankruptcy.
	The court can suspend these discharge provisions where it is satisfied that an undercharged bankrupt is failing to co-operate with his trustee and/or the official receiver.

Bankruptcies

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average time taken was by the Official Receiver to complete his inquiries into bankrupts in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: The Insolvency Service does not hold statistics on the amount of time taken to complete inquires; this is largely dependent on the complexity of the case. The Insolvency Service has set targets for the percentage of reports to creditors to be issued within certain time limits. During the last five years The Service has issued of reports to creditors within 8 weeks and 12 weeks of the bankruptcy order respectively as follows:
	
		Per cent. 
		
			 Year ended Eight weeks 12 weeks 
		
		
			 31 March 2001 99.3 99.6 
			 31 March 2000 98.7 99.8 
			 31 March 1999 98.2 99.7 
			 31 March 1998 98.1 99.5 
			 31 March 1997 98.3 99.6

Insolvency Practitioners

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many insolvency practitioners are in practice in England and Wales.

Melanie Johnson: A total of 1,623 individuals are currently authorised to act as insolvency practitioners by the Secretary of State and by the recognised professional bodies in England and Wales. Of this number some 1,020 are currently bonded to take appointments as office-holders in insolvencies.

Small Business Banking

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to publish the Competition Commission report into small business banking.

Patricia Hewitt: The supply of banking services by clearing banks to small and medium-sized enterprises was referred to the Competition Commission for investigation by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Chancellor and I will publish the report as soon as practicable.

Vehicle Speed Limiters

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will bring forward plans to introduce speed-limiters in motorised road vehicles.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	In Great Britain, there are already legal requirements to fit top-speed limiters to goods vehicles, buses and coaches weighing more than 7.5 tonnes maximum permitted weight. These measures are more extensive than is currently required by existing European Union law. A proposal currently under consideration by the European Parliament and the Council Ministers would extend the European requirement to buses and coaches with more than eight passenger seats irrespective of weight, and to goods vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes maximum permitted weight. We are not convinced that the safety and environmental consequences of fitting limiters to lighter vehicles would be beneficial—bunching of vehicles could cause added congestion and create safety hazards—and voted against the proposal when it was considered by the Transport Council in December last. The proposal is, however, likely to be adopted later this year.

Financial Services

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the Financial Services Authority proposals regarding polarisation in the provision of financial services; if she will ask the Social Exclusion Unit to assess the report in terms of its impact on people on low incomes; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	The proposals in CP121 to reform the polarisation regime for the distribution of financial service products are a matter for the FSA. They are subject to consultation and the government would encourage all those with views to look at the consultation paper and supporting research reports, and let the FSA have their views by 19 April. Any proposals the FSA brings forward following consultation will be subject to detailed cost benefit analysis.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Departmental Policies (Bristol, East)

Jean Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Bristol, East constituency, the effects on Bristol of her Department's policies and actions (a) from 5 May 1994 to 2 May 1997, (b) from 2 May 1997 to 7 May 1998, and (c) since 7 May 1998.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the Regional Co-ordination Unit have provided data and I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 4 March 2002, Official Report, column 80W.

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average response time was for responding to departmental correspondence; what percentage of letters took longer than one month for a response; and what percentage took longer than three months for a response in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The correspondence standard in the Department for Education and Skills is to reply to 95 per cent. of all correspondence within 15 working days of receipt. Figures reflecting our performance on all departmental correspondence are shown at Tables 1a and 2a. These were published, in the annual service standards report, by Cabinet Office each year up until 2001 to show performance against the correspondence standard which is one of the six Whitehall standards set for central Government on 1 April 1997.
	For the period from April 2000, when we introduced an electronic case tracking system (Correspondence Handling System), we are able to provide more detailed information on performance as shown in Tables 1b, 2b and 2c. This covers most correspondence but not emails sent direct from Ministers' offices.
	Ministerial correspondence (calendar years)
	
		Table 1a
		
			   Target for response (working days) Total volume Percentage of responses within target 
		
		
			 2001(2) 15 18,237 76 
			 2000 15 22,318 72 
			 1999 15 21,196 75 
			 1998 15 19,766 70 
			 1997 15 22,460 71 
		
	
	(2) The figures on this table are the figures reported to Cabinet Office. They will differ from that of the Correspondence Handling System as they include correspondence not handled via this system, i.e. emails sent direct from Ministers' offices.
	
		Table 1b—Ministerial correspondence figures taken from Correspondence Handling System on 22 February 2002 to show performance from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001
		
			  Final reply sent Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Less than 15 days (within target) 9,364 67.98 
			 Between 16 and 30 days 3,672 26.66 
			 31 days and over 738 5.36 
			 Total 13,774 100.00 
		
	
	Departmental correspondence answered by officials (Financial Years)
	
		Table 2a—Figures reported to Cabinet Office for performance relating to the periods prior to the introduction of the Correspondence Handling System
		
			 Operational year Response target (working days) Total volume Percentage of responses within target 
		
		
			 April 1999—March 2000 15 96,009 90 
			 April 1998—March 1999 15 108,000 89 
			 April 1997—March 1998 15 116,417 88 
		
	
	
		Table 2b—Figures taken from Correspondence Handling System on 22 February 2002 to show performance from 1 April 2001 to 22 February 2002
		
			 Final reply sent Number Percentage 
		
		
			 15 days or less (within target) 47,065 93.39 
			 Between 16 and 30 days 2,520 5.00 
			 31 days and over 812 1.61 
			  
			 Total 50,397 100.00 
		
	
	
		Table 2c—Figures taken from Correspondence Handling System on 22 February 2002 to show performance from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001
		
			 Final reply sent Number Percentage 
		
		
			 15 days or less (within target) 73,954 93.36 
			 Between 16 and 30 days 3,481 4.39 
			 31 days and over 1,782 2.25 
			 Total(3) 79,217 100.00 
		
	
	(3) Total volume of correspondence reported to Cabinet Office and published in the annual report for this period was 85,929. This figure included residual cases not input on to the new Correspondence Handling System.

Financial Literacy

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if there are plans to require (a) further education colleges and (b) schools to include financial literacy courses in their curricula.

John Healey: There are no plans for financial literacy activity to be a mandatory part of further education provision. But we have developed and tested financial literacy learning materials and guidance for tutors and these will be available to further education colleges when they are launched later this year.
	Personal finance education is already covered in the national curriculum as part of the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) framework. The framework has been in place since September 2000 for pupils aged five to 16 and was introduced to support the personal and social development of young people, including the development of financial capability, in today's complex and changing world.
	Guidance for teachers, "Financial Capability through Personal Financial Education", was published in April 2000.

Rapid Response Funding

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many bids there have been; what sums have been allocated; what the budget is for Rapid Response funding in 2001–02; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: To date in 2001–02, 79 bids for Rapid Response funding have been approved providing a total of £5.1 million of additional support for people involved in large-scale redundancies. The following table sets out the sums allocated for each bid. The budget for the Rapid Response Fund in 2001–02 is £7 million. From April 2002, the administration of the Rapid Response Fund will transfer to Jobcentre Plus. I am making this change so that the fund can be run alongside the Job Transition Service. This should result in an effective and co-ordinated response to redundancies which will be in the interests of both employers and individuals.
	
		£ 
		
			 Project title  RRF funds approved 2001–02 
		
		
			 Yorkshire and Humberside  
			 Rawmarsh foods 44,799 
			 Acordis 56,500 
			 Crosrol Ltd. 44,100 
			 Transbus International 159,565 
			 Pace 36,500 
			 Ericson—Scunthorpe 92,079 
			 SSL International 70,030 
			 Fishers Frozen Foods 60,000 
			   
			 South West  
			 The Link Group 87,938 
			 Cuprinol 3,000 
			 Nortel 254,454 
			 Motorola 410,999 
			 Kruger Tissue 37,376 
			 North Devon Foods 27,730 
			 Sifam Fibre Optics 16,873 
			 KTH & Aram Engineering 69,035 
			 TISSP UK Ltd. 29,750 
			 Spur Shelving 30,650 
			 North Devon Meats Ltd. 9,000 
			 Aardman Animation 18,674 
			 Renault Swindon 42,668 
			 Watts, Blake & Bearne18,621 
			 Mann Fee Dartingtin Tech 
			 Marconi 32,143 
			 UK Safety Group Ltd. 21,200 
			 Xerox 89,014 
			 SCA Packaging 12,585 
			 Rolls Royce 90,696 
			 Wincanton Logistics 23,451 
			 Devon Training for Skills 13,900 
			 New Zealand Milk 44,100 
			 Agusta Westlands 135,975 
			 Devon Desserts 79,800 
			   
			 North East  
			 Via Systems 58,000 
			 Gill Aviation£25,000 
			 Air Normandy 
			 Sanyo 3,750 
			 Akzo Noble 29,400 
			   
			 East of England  
			 Vauxhall 104,056 
			   
			 East Midlands  
			 Dema Glass 24,000 
			 Baker Refractories 143,262 
			 Ericcson 427,239 
			 Cinch Connectors Ltd. 44,860 
			 Airflow Streamlines 51,040 
			 British Timken 53,767 
			 Rolls Royce 150,794 
			   
			 West Midlands  
			 HP Hydraulics 20,700 
			 Akso Noble 3,300 
			 Barton Engineering 28,500 
			 Sterling Tubes 31,500 
			 Chubb 48,000 
			 KTH 75,000 
			 Dowdeswell End Co. Ltd. 32,250 
			   
			 Ceramics:  
			 Staffordshire 
			 Royal Doulton50,000 
			 Churchill China 
			 H&R Johnson Tiles 
			   
			 IMI Norgren 21,800 
			 SAI 9,500 
			 Breed Steering Systems 148,400 
			 Sun Valley Foods 105,000 
			 Collins & Aikman Plastics Ltd. 23,855 
			 Goodyear 16,000 
			 Stratford Foods 21,000 
			 Rolls Royce 29,250 
			 IHW Engineering 12,850 
			 Fujitsu—Solihull 107,480 
			 Ceramics 3 39,600 
			 Dana Su Automotive 25,800 
			 Richmond Frozen Confectionery 21,250 
			 Celestica—Telsford 35,270 
			 Celestica—Kidsgrove and Bradwell Wood 102,600 
			 Accident Assistance 16,440 
			 KTH Nuneaton Ltd. 14,500 
			 Dunn & Bradstreet Ltd. 13,500 
			 Novern 10,600 
			 Goodyear 2 19,000 
			 Leisure Consumer Products 13,500 
			   
			 North West  
			 Harris Bacon 131,100 
			 The Ravenhead Company 171,881 
			 Ineos Chlor 
			 Diversey Lever103,615 
			 Bush Boake Allen 
			 BAE Systems 50,000 
			 Rolly Royce 103,950 
			 Cammel Laird 201,500 
		
	
	Note:
	The amounts represent RRF funding approved for 2001–02. Many of the projects will continue in 2002–03. Additional funds for these bids have already been secured but are not shown in the table.

EMTA Labour Market Survey

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the proportion of engineering and manufacturing establishments examined in the 1999 EMTA labour market survey which reported a shortage of technical engineering skills.

John Healey: holding answer 4 March 2002
	per cent. of engineering and manufacturing establishments examined in the 1999 EMTA labour market survey reported a technical engineering skills gap. This figure is based on responses from 591 of the 2000 establishments surveyed.

School Playing Fields

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used in determining an application for disposal of school playing fields, as to whether playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school and other schools in the area will be met.

John Healey: Applications to the Secretary of State to dispose of school playing fields are assessed against three main criteria. These are:
	(i) schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school making the disposal, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;
	(ii) community needs: that community use of school playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary; and
	(iii) finance: that any sale proceeds are re-invested to provide new or improved sports facilities at schools, or are used otherwise to help raise standards by providing better educational facilities.
	The criteria are set out in the Department's Guidance 0580/2001: "The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for City Academies". The criteria enable the Secretary of State to take into account the team game playing field provision at other local schools. This is to ensure that where there are surplus fields at one school, other local schools are given the opportunity to use those surplus fields. As part of the schools' needs criterion, applicants are asked to say what impact the proposed disposal will have on the curriculum, and to demonstrate clearly how the curriculum will continue to be met if consent is given.
	The School Playing Fields Advisory Panel provides advice on the extent to which applications meet the published criteria.

School Playing Fields

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answers of 25 February 2002, Official Report, columns 730–34W and 27 February 2002, Official Report, column 1298w, what the proceeds of sale were for each playing field development application approved by the Secretary of State since 1998; and what (a) sports and (b) education facilities those proceeds were used to finance.

John Healey: The information requested in respect of the proceeds arising from the sale of school sports pitches is shown in the table.
	
		Use of proceeds for approved applications to sell school sports pitch areas
		
			  Local education authority  School Closed or closing Estimated proceeds (£)  Use of proceeds 
		
		
			 Barnet Ashmole No 8,650,000 Teaching accommodation; all-weather pitch 
			 Bedfordshire Ashton St. Peter VA No 100,000 School consolidation 
			 Bedfordshire Silver Jubilee middle Yes 72,000 Teaching accommodation 
			 Birmingham Broadway No 900,000 Improve pitches; new clubhouse and changing facilities 
			 Bolton St. James's CE No 800,000 Sports facilities 
			 Bristol Monks Park secondary No 2,200,000 Sports hall, all-weather pitch. Capital works at other schools 
			 Buckinghamshire Bellfield first and middle Yes 468,000 Education capital programme 
			 Buckinghamshire Downley middle Yes 2,500,000 Education capital programme 
			 Buckinghamshire Heights first Yes 1,350,000 Education capital programme 
			 Buckinghamshire Terriers county first Yes 650,000 Education capital programme 
			 Calderdale Brooksbank No 1,038,000 Sports hall 
			 Cheshire Brookside county infant Yes 83,000 School amalgamation 
			 Cheshire Colshaw CP No 75,000 Nursery accommodation 
			 Cheshire Manor Park infant Yes 225,000 School consolidation 
			 Cheshire St. James CE junior No Payment in kind Teaching accommodation 
			 Cheshire Westlands high Yes 3,100,000 Teaching accommodation; pitches 
			 Croydon Haling Manor high No 3,000,000 Teaching accommodation 
			 Derbyshire Noel Baker community No 18,000 Changing facilities 
			 Derbyshire Pingle No 363,000 Improve pitches 
			 Derbyshire Western Mere Yes 200,000 Education capital programme 
			 Devon Highweek primary No 150,000 Teaching accommodation; pitches 
			 Dorset Fosters Yes 1,500,000 Improve pitches; new schools 
			 Durham The Avenue comprehensive Yes 32,600 Education capital programme 
			 Durham Westwood primary Yes 6,520 Education capital programme 
			 Essex Moulsham high No 1,000,000 Improve pitches; teaching accommodation 
			 Essex Oakview special No 1,000,000 Teaching accommodation 
			 Essex Tabor high No 3,000,000 School consolidation 
			 Essex The Stanway No 7,500,000 Improve sports facilities; teaching accommodation 
			 Gloucestershire The Catholic school of St. Gregory the Great No 900,000 All-weather pitch; teaching accommodation 
			 Halton Ashley special No 50,000 Sleeping accommodation for adults with learning difficulties 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham Gibbs Green special No 400,000 All-weather pitch 
			 Havering Frances Bardsley for girls No 6,850,000 Sports hall; all-weather pitch; consolidate school sites 
			 Kent Allhallows first Yes 75,000 Education capital programme 
			 Kent St. Thomas' special Yes 480,000 Education capital programme 
			 Lancashire Baines high No 315,000 Sports hall 
			 Lancashire St. Richards RC high Yes 1,000,000 Sports hall; education capital programme 
			 Lancashire St. Thomas Aquinas RC high Yes 225,000 Education capital programme 
			 Leeds Oakwood primary No Payment in kind Teaching accommodation 
			 Leeds Wetherby high No 720,000 All-weather pitch; sports hall 
			 Liverpool Childwall comprehensive No 2,500,000 New school; sports hall; improve pitches 
			 Milton Keynes Castles first Yes 480,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Milton Keynes Denbigh Yes 5,000,000 Education capital programme 
			 Norfolk Redgate middle No 175,000 Sports hall; teaching accommodation 
			 North Tyneside St. Mary's Roman Catholic No 95,000 Grass playing fields; playground 
			 North Yorkshire Settle CE primary No Payment in kind New school 
			 Northamptonshire John Lea secondary Yes 4,000,000 Education capital programme 
			 Northumberland Gallowhill Hall special Yes 5,850 Teaching accommodation 
			 Northumberland St. Benet Biscop RC aided high No 1,350,018 Teaching accommodation; improve pitches 
			 Nottinghamshire Manor comprehensive No 140,000 Sports hall 
			 Oxfordshire Wallingford No 3,700,000 School consolidation 
			 Peterborough The King's No 1,000,000 Sports hall; all-weather pitch 
			 Rochdale Middleton technology No 400,000 Sports hall 
			 Rochdale Spring Hill high No 300,000 Sports hall 
			 Shropshire Lower Grove Yes 600,000 School amalgamation 
			 Staffordshire Sir Graham Balfour high No 1,700,000 New school; sports hall; improve pitches 
			 Surrey Banstead county junior and St. Anne's RC primary No 40,000 Education capital programme 
			 Surrey Boxgrove primary No Payment in kind School consolidation 
			 Surrey Merland Rise CP No 1,608,000 Education capital programme 
			 Surrey Okewood C of E Yes 10,000 Education capital programme 
			 Surrey Park Mead junior No 550,000 Grass pitches;teaching accommodation 
			 Surrey Rosebery No 1,400,000 All-weather pitch; sports hall 
			 Tameside Egerton Park high No Payment in kind Sports hall 
			 Telford and Wrekin Blessed Robert Johnson No 300,000 Sports hall 
			 Wakefield Kinsley first Yes 55,000 Education capital programme 
			 Wakefield South Elmsall middle Yes 50,000 Education capital programme 
			 Walsall Beacon Yes 2,000,000 Teaching accommodation 
			 Walsall St. Thomas More Catholic comprehensive No 3,100,000 School consolidation 
			 Warwickshire Attleborough first Yes 245,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Warwickshire Binley Woods first Yes 800,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Warwickshire Exhall first Yes 300,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Warwickshire Marie Corelli Yes 2,000,000 New school 
			 Warwickshire Stratford-upon-Avon high Yes 1,000,000 New school 
			 West Sussex Hazelwick No 2,945,000 Teaching accommodation; all-weather pitch 
			 Wigan Hindley Borsdane Brook special Yes 500,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Wigan Orrell Holgate primary No 600,000 Education capital programme 
			 Wigan Rose Hill special Yes 500,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Wigan Tyldesley Highfield special Yes 380,000 Consolidate school sites 
			 Wiltshire Castle Combe primary Yes 10,000 Education capital programme 
			 Wolverhampton Aldersley No 2,387,500 Teaching accommodation 
			 Worcestershire Callowbrook first Yes 2,000 Education capital programme 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. 'Sports pitch' means areas of open grassed land which are equal to, or larger than, the Football Association's recommended area for games played by under-10s, that is 2,000m
	(4) , and which have a configuration making them suitable for sports pitches (whether they are so laid out or not).
	2. The table excludes applications withdrawn by the applicant and applications where schools would retain the same, or a better, level of access to the same sports pitch or to an equivalent sports pitch.
	3. The table includes applications in respect of foundation and voluntary schools considered under Schedule 22 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 since 1 September 1999.
	4. Prior to July 2001, local authorities were not required to specify what sports or education facilities were to be financed from proceeds of sale. It was sufficient for them to give an undertaking that any proceeds of sale would be allocated to their schools' capital programme. A requirement to provide details of the sports or education projects to be funded from sale proceeds was introduced by the revised guidance published in July 2001.

School Playing Fields

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in respect of each application for disposal of a school sports pitch since July 2001, if the application was supported (a) by the representative of (i) the National Playing Fields Association, (ii) the Central Council of Physical Recreation, (iii) Learning Through Landscapes, (iv) the National Association of Head Teachers and (v) the Local Government Association on the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel and (b) by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel as a whole.

John Healey: holding answer 5 March 2002
	The advice of the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel is presented as the collective view of the Panel. Of the applications to dispose of school sports pitches received by the Department since 16 July 2001, the Panel has expressed collective support for the eight applications that have been approved.

School Playing Fields

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations her Department has received from the National Playing Fields Association relating to the sale of school playing fields.

John Healey: holding answer 5 March 2002
	The Department has not received any recent representations from the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) relating to the sale of school playing fields. The NPFA is, however, a member of the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel which advises the Department on the extent to which individual applications to dispose of school playing fields comply with the published criteria.

Connexions

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what information obtained by the swipecards of children registered with Connexions may be passed to other businesses and agencies (a) with and (b) without the agreement of the data subject.

Ivan Lewis: The Connexions Card is only available to young people aged 16 to 19. Registration for the Connexions Card is separate and independent from any registration with the Connexions Service.
	In order for the Connexions Card scheme to run effectively a young person's details, such as their name and date of birth, may be shared with Connexions Services, LEAs, Learning Centres and commercial partners. The specific information provided will depend on the nature of the arrangement but any such agreement is subject to the approval of my Department. The arrangements governing the sharing of the information comply with the Data Protection Act and Section 114 of the Learning and Skills Act.
	The Privacy Statement distributed to all young people when they register as Card members provides them with an opportunity to choose whether or not they are content for information about them to be passed to commercial partners. This permission can be altered at any time via the Connexions Card website.

Connexions

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the reward card for young people involves an element of (a) product endorsement and (b) commercial risk to her Department; and if she will make a statement on progress in distributing it.

Ivan Lewis: Rewards, discounts and other commercial arrangements offered as part of the Connexions Card initiative are negotiated by our private sector partner, Capita, under the terms set out in the Connexions Card contract and involve no product endorsement. The management of risk in the project is subject to formal contract controls and is handled by my Department. The Card has been successfully trialled in a number of schools in the north-east. It is currently being rolled out in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, north-west and south-west regions.

Class Supervision

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will issue guidance as to the circumstances in which staff other than qualified teachers or those seeking qualified teacher status should be placed in sole charge of school classes.

Stephen Timms: Possible roles for support staff in schools are being considered by a working party, which includes representatives of teachers and support staff, the local government employers and other government bodies. The Education Bill currently before Parliament provides for there to be regulations specifying the conditions under which staff other than qualified teachers may be allowed to teach.

Vocational GCSEs

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds she proposes to make available for the introduction of vocational GCSEs; and if specific provision will be made for the cost of training teachers in the new subject areas.

Ivan Lewis: The Department will fund a £38 million programme over 2002–04 to expand vocational opportunities at key stage 4—including support for the introduction of the new GCSEs in vocational subjects in September 2002. A programme of training and support for teachers in each of the new GCSEs' subject areas is already under way and will continue into the new academic year.

Teachers

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional resources she proposes to assist schools to reduce teacher workload in the next school year.

Stephen Timms: On 4 January 2002 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills announced that some £4 million would be made available to fund School Workforce Pathfinder Projects. The projects will explore innovative ways of working to tackle workload so that teachers can concentrate more on teaching and raising standards. Lessons learned from these projects will be shared with all schools. We have also asked the STRB for recommendations by the end of April on how to address workload issues. We will consider those recommendations in the summer.

Learning and Skills Council

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the Learning and Skills Council will announce its revised sixth form funding allocations for 2002–03.

Ivan Lewis: The Learning and Skills Council is announcing its revised sixth form funding allocations for 2002–03 today. For LEAs with allocations which have been increased compared with those announced previously, LSC grant will be increased commensurately. For LEAs with reduced allocations, LSC grant will be reduced but the Department will pay post-16 budget support grant equal to the reduction, so that no LEA will lose money.

Union Duties

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many staff in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of the last four years;
	(2)  when she intends to answer the question of 13 February from the hon. Member for Buckingham regarding staff involvement in union duties.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			   1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Staff numbers 18 18 18 18 
			 Number of days 495 495 495 495 
			 Costs (£) 40,378 41,202 42,043 42,883 
		
	
	These figures represent the maximum leave allowance of 25 days (40 days for members of Trade Union National Executive Committees and Councils) which may be granted in each year for individuals engaged in trade union business in DfES and its predecessor DfEE.
	There are no members of National Executive Committees or Councils in NDPBs for which DfES is responsible.
	This compares to an average figure of 23 staff, with average costs of £45,788 per annum, in the four years prior to 1998.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Nova Hut Steelworks

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contacts have taken place between HM Ambassador to the Czech Republic and the Czech Government about the future of the Nova Hut steelworks.

Peter Hain: holding answer 1 March 2002
	The restructuring of the Czech steel industry is an important part of the EU enlargement negotiations. The Ambassador and her staff do discuss the state of the Czech steel industry and Nova Hut steelworks with the Czech Government, but have made no representations.

Prisoners of War (Far East)

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made in the last six months to Japan about the compensation paid to British POWs held in Japanese prisoner of war camps during World War II.

Denis MacShane: Following the Prime Minister's initiative to make an ex-gratia payment no further representations have been made to the Japanese Government. I continue to meet representatives of the former Far Eastern Prisoners of War groups to discuss other issues.

British Prisoners (Guantanamo Bay)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visits have been made by (a) his officials and (b) officials of Government state agencies to British nationals detained at Camp X Ray.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to my statement in the House on 21 January 2002, Official Report, columns 623–32, and to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson) on 4 March 2002, Official Report, column 69W.

EU Meetings (Scottish Scrutiny)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason a devolved Administration Minister did not attend the 2409 European Union Council of Ministers meeting (General Affairs) on 18–19 February; which particular suggestions or matters of concern from the Scottish Executive were raised in their absence by the UK Government delegation; and what information or evidence is being provided by his Department to guarantee effective post-council scrutiny by the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Peter Hain: holding answer 4 March 2002
	Decisions on Ministerial attendance at Council meetings are taken on a case-by-case basis by the lead UK Minister. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I attended this meeting, representing all parts of the UK.
	It is the responsibility of the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the Scottish Executive's involvement in preparations for EU Council meetings. These arrangements are a matter for the Committee and the Scottish Executive. This Department provides information to Scottish Executive officials as part of that process.

Gibraltar

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that there will be no joint authority with Spain over Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: The Government stand by the commitment set out in the preamble to the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution that we will not enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar will pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.

Zimbabwe

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding the exchange rates used by the British Embassy in Harare for fees paid by British citizens with joint Zimbabwe citizenship wishing to waive their British citizenship.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 5 March 2002
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have received a small number of letters on this topic from Members representing their constituents.

Zimbabwe

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for the funding of an emergency air-lift of British citizens from Zimbabwe.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 5 March 2002
	No funding arrangements have been made for an emergency air-lift of British citizens from Zimbabwe. We have a Civil Contingency Plan in place for Zimbabwe, as we do for many other countries. This is kept under constant review given the rise in tension in the country.

Israel

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the designation of Israel as a nuclear weapon state; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: We continue to encourage Israel to resolve international concerns about its nuclear status by acceding to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state, and concluding a fullscope safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. We also support the creation of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, as demonstrated by our consistent support for relevant United Nations resolutions.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate the circumstances in which Israeli troops have delayed the return to Ramallah of Palestinian teachers from the Friends School who were on the visit to Birmingham between 22 February and 2 March organised by the British Council; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Officials at the British Council have informed me that the teachers have returned to their school in Ramallah. Their journey was difficult because of problems they encountered crossing Israeli Defence Force checkpoints.
	I am deeply concerned about the humanitarian and economic impact of closures. Sustained closures continue to restrict the free movement of people and essential supplies between the Occupied Territories and Israel and other countries, as well as within the Occupied Territories. The suffocation of the Palestinian economy, growing unemployment and the disruption of public service and normal social activity in the territories can only fuel hatred and violence. The lifting of closures form part of the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee report. We have expressed our serious concerns to the Israeli Government on political, legal and humanitarian grounds, and will continue to do so.

Immigration

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications have been received to enter and reside in the UK on the basis of (a) being married to a UK citizen and (b) intending to marry a UK citizen; and if he will list by the country of applicants the number of (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful applications in each category in each of the last three years.

Ben Bradshaw: We do not maintain centrally statistics on the number of applications received to enter and reside in the UK on the basis of either being married to or intending to marry a UK citizen.
	Such applicants are recorded under the general category of settlement. The figures within this category include dependants and those seeking to reside in the UK on the basis of marriage to someone already resident in the UK but not necessarily a British citizen. to differentiate between these type of applications, we would need to ask all posts to conduct a manual check of all applications.
	Figures for total number of settlement applications received, issued and refused in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are attached. Those for 1999 and 2000 are already in the House Library; those for 2001 are based on monthly statistical returns from the largest 110 entry clearance posts handling 98 per cent. of all visa applications.
	
		Settlement applications
		
			  1999 2000 2001  
			 Country Receive Issued Refused Received Issued Refused Received Issued Refused 
		
		
			 Albania 23 17 3 90 70 20 137 163 26 
			 Algeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Angola 5 5 0 10 6 0 1 0 1 
			 Argentina 49 47 2 77 76 0 — — — 
			 Armenia 6 6 0 12 12 0 — — — 
			 Ascension Island 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Australia 5,329 5,201 1 5,353 5,149 3 2,076 3,896 1 
			 Austria 6 6 0 8 7 1 5 241 0 
			 Azerbaijan 55 47 3 29 32 0 14 27 3 
			 Bahamas 30 30 0 26 26 0 — — — 
			 Bahrain 26 26 0 74 72 1 71 131 0 
			 Bangladesh 4,769 3,289 1,293 5,127 4,941 1,729 3,626 4,793 1,466 
			 Barbados 128 109 7 181 178 8 — — — 
			 Belarus 38 33 0 50 57 3 43 70 1 
			 Belgium 34 33 0 17 16 3 15 26 0 
			 Belize 6 6 0 11 11 0 — — — 
			 Bermuda 16 16 0 15 15 0 — — — 
			 Bolivia 10 10 0 5 5 0 — — — 
			 Bosnia Herzegovina 20 19 1 26 25 1 22 30 0 
			 Botswana 17 18 0 34 34 0 — — — 
			 Brazil 236 227 10 179 165 14 0 0 0 
			 Brunei 33 33 0 47 47 0 — — — 
			 Bulgaria 177 0 0 180 165 0 67 153 10 
			 Burma 10 10 1 18 12 0 — — — 
			 Cameroon 37 14 10 41 33 15 143 35 16 
			 Canada 1,404 1,359 2 1,312 1,263 5 303 1,225 10 
			 Chile 54 54 0 23 23 0 — — — 
			 China 1,111 817 70 1,069 782 55 1,037 968 68 
			 Colombia 198 182 16 160 140 8 82 120 18 
			 Costa Rica 8 8 0 9 9 0 — — — 
			 Croatia 74 73 1 55 55 0 47 64 7 
			 Cuba 102 103 7 97 78 7 66 99 3 
			 Cyprus 410 389 9 371 348 5 156 310 5 
			 Czech Republic 320 2 2 2,039 1,862 44 226 311 0 
			 Democratic Republic Congo 81 16 5 119 49 6 — — — 
			 Denmark 16 15 1 3 3 0 2 9 2 
			 Ecuador 45 44 0 48 38 10 18 69 13 
			 Egypt 188 194 35 174 152 11 97 152 38 
			 El Salvador 4 4 0 7 6 0 — — — 
			 Estonia 37 37 0 37 37 0 — — — 
			 Ethiopia 334 156 26 200 274 147 669 597 528 
			 Falkland Islands 2 1 0 304 298 5 — — — 
			 Fiji 22 20 2 42 42 0 — — — 
			 Finland 5 6 0 2 4 0 — — — 
			 France 73 6 16 96 87 2 65 79 1 
			 Georgia 17 17 0 17 17 0 10 17 0 
			 Germany 122 114 12 89 83 6 61 87 18 
			 Ghana 851 739 109 1,049 671 247 768 978 936 
			 Gibraltar 3 3 0 6 6 0 — — — 
			 Greece 52 48 0 44 45 0 — — — 
			 Guatemala 23 23 0 16 16 0 — — — 
			 Guyana 73 83 8 115 116 3 59 102 13 
			 Honduras 5 5 0 4 4 0 — — — 
			 Hungary 180 165 1 127 126 8 103 149 0 
			 Iceland 5 5 0 1 1 0 — — — 
			 India 5,613 5,290 1,118 5,039 4,665 1,000 3,406 4,988 1,072 
			 Indonesia 169 136 3 135 129 6 36 177 6 
			 Iran 397 385 0 380 379 0 336 446 62 
			 Ireland 134 120 0 126 95 7 33 41 17 
			 Israel 210 209 1 196 186 0 — — — 
			 Italy 54 52 3 59 55 5 35 50 1 
			 Ivory Coast 67 50 30 38 31 4 1 78 8 
			 Jamaica 348 305 86 328 351 94 205 296 50 
			 Japan 454 416 17 441 423 15 180 255 111 
			 Jerusalem 57 50 2 76 39 1 5 13 0 
			 Jordan 188 173 15 253 199 20 104 182 34 
			 Kazakhstan 61 57 4 36 31 5 11 73 1 
			 Kenya 1,419 1,229 36 1,437 1,063 30 727 1,574 158 
			 Korea 57 56 1 62 60 0 — — — 
			 Kuwait 138 63 3 87 73 6 25 27 11 
			 Latvia 53 52 1 50 47 2 37 65 3 
			 Lebanon 115 101 3 147 135 12 69 95 7 
			 Lesotho 11 10 0 4 3 0 — — — 
			 Libya 113 115 0 107 106 1 21 23 7 
			 Lithuania 75 68 2 78 76 0 — — — 
			 Luxembourg 12 12 0 16 16 0 — — — 
			 Macedonian 1 1 0 1 1 0 49 59 13 
			 Madagascar 7 4 3 7 6 1 — — — 
			 Malawi 66 57 0 89 79 2 0 0 0 
			 Malaysia 525 532 9 328 512 8 242 444 12 
			 Malta 161 161 0 164 148 1 — — — 
			 Mauritius 182 164 15 138 118 5 80 78 23 
			 Mexico 80 80 0 86 85 0 54 104 1 
			 Mongolia 6 6 0 4 4 0 — — — 
			 Morocco 343 291 20 368 351 24 307 404 45 
			 Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Mozambique 15 15 0 12 13 0 — — — 
			 Namibia 20 18 2 10 9 0 — — — 
			 Nepal 74 59 7 100 94 3 86 75 22 
			 Netherlands 128 119 8 115 111 2 73 115 0 
			 New Zealand 1,989 1,922 2 2,075 1,918 4 698 1,836 1 
			 Nicaragua 1 1 0 2 2 0 — — — 
			 Nigeria 165 126 9 125 96 19 87 146 67 
			 Nigeria 1,379 667 366 1,108 1,228 248 629 1,077 348 
			 Norway 8 0 0 14 14 0 2 4 0 
			 Oman 70 70 0 57 55 1 7 12 1 
			 Pakistan 10,840 6,649 2,643 10,515 12,042 2,094 6,564 9,753 3,579 
			 Panama 6 6 0 6 6 0 — — — 
			 Papua New Guinea 15 14 0 93 94 5 — — — 
			 Peru 61 59 1 72 67 3 31 55 0 
			 Philippines 808 737 44 879 647 42 525 732 71 
			 Poland 307 299 6 309 292 109 203 298 2 
			 Portugal 36 34 1 27 27 0 — — — 
			 Qatar 11 9 1 16 15 2 4 16 0 
			 Romania 194 180 8 244 173 35 180 251 36 
			 Russia 707 643 30 822 775 42 419 790 28 
			 Rwanda 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Saudi Arabia 232 214 10 163 134 10 73 123 28 
			 Senegal 48 27 21 29 26 0 14 17 3 
			 Seychelles 22 22 0 26 26 0 — — — 
			 Sierra Leone 0 0 0 164 101 25 — — — 
			 Singapore 290 289 0 287 280 1 79 134 0 
			 Slovak Republic 254 254 3 238 225 3 75 173 4 
			 Solomon Islands 3 3 0 5 5 0 — — — 
			 South Africa 2,236 2,214 23 15 15 0 1,381 2,160 43 
			 Spain 55 55 0 46 46 0 16 32 0 
			 Sri Lanka 683 541 80 878 843 35 1,032 921 189 
			 Sudan 22 22 0 96 94 27 63 80 39 
			 Swaziland 7 7 0 9 9 0 — — — 
			 Sweden 20 20 0 11 9 0 8 6 0 
			 Switzerland 143 131 2 129 127 1 47 86 5 
			 Syria 170 129 12 142 73 14 361 185 45 
			 Taiwan 54 54 0 61 61 0 37 52 9 
			 Tanzania 148 118 12 169 134 23 43 130 19 
			 Thailand 1,190 997 63 1,557 1,471 98 1,014 1,894 248 
			 The Gambia 305 245 23 313 239 26 214 290 57 
			 to Domingo 39 27 4 30 42 2 26 36 4 
			 Tonga 0 0 0 1 1 0 — — — 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 138 139 4 0 0 0 56 86 5 
			 Tunisia 244 219 25 250 227 32 226 282 58 
			 Turkey 1,052 754 128 1,325 836 39 556 941 78 
			 Turkmenistan 5 5 0 10 10 0 — — — 
			 Uganda 108 86 15 254 170 40 314 388 135 
			 Ukraine 171 157 5 336 327 6 256 373 27 
			 United Arab Emirates 219 184 7 205 177 18 90 156 25 
			 United States of America 2,793 2,688 17 2,722 2,637 4 1,298 2,321 9 
			 Uruguay 7 7 0 3 3 0 — — — 
			 Uzbekistan 36 33 4 23 23 0 3 40 3 
			 Vanuatu 5 5 0 4 4 0 — — — 
			 Venezuela 41 40 1 48 48 0 235 347 50 
			 Vietnam 72 49 20 128 109 7 56 109 17 
			 Yemen 309 197 54 317 289 92 205 345 74 
			 Yugoslavia 23 22 1 110 100 0 41 58 3 
			 Zambia 123 76 1 123 102 15 45 70 5 
			 Zimbabwe 448 447 1 861 853 8 337 635 3 
			  
			 Total 79,469 63,819 10,734 79,342 77,105 10,033 47,165 72,131 14,531

Overseas Representatives (Business Promotion)

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who initiated, and on what date, the draft letter for the Prime Minister submitted by the British Ambassador to Romania in support of the acquisition of Sidex by Mr. Lakshmi Mittal's company.

Peter Hain: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 February 2002, Official Report, columns 610–11W.

Romania

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings were held between Romanian officials and Ministers and British Ministers and officials during the Romanian Government's visit to Britain in November 2001.

Peter Hain: holding answer 28 February 2002
	The Romanian Prime Minister met my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and the Secretary of State for International Development. Mr. Nastase was accompanied by his Ministers and officials and British Ministers were accompanied by officials. The Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane), and I had separate meetings with the Romanian Foreign Minister. There were further meetings in the margins of the visit between officials and members of the Romanian delegation, as is our usual practice. The main topics for discussion included EU enlargement and Romania's progress with her application, including political and economic reforms.

SCOTLAND

Electoral Register

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps the Government are taking to allow local authorities to make the electoral register available for commercial purposes.

Helen Liddell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, on 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 450W.

Consultants

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost to her Department was of the use of external consultants in each of the last four years.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	In 2000–01 the Department spent £5,465 on external consultants and in the current year spending to date is £17,484.

Working Conditions and Practices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of work-related stress have been reported in her Department; how much compensation has been paid to employees; how many work days have been lost due to work-related stress, and at what cost; what procedures have been put in place to reduce work-related stress, and at what cost, in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	No cases of work-related stress have been reported in my Department since that date. The Scotland Office is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for all its employees. This includes ensuring that work practices are safe and free from hazards to health and that effective occupational health policies and good health management practices are developed.

Departmental Website

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost of her Department's website was in real terms in each of the last four years; and how many hits it received in each of those years.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	The cost and number of page impressions for my Department's website is as follows:
	
		
			 Period Cost (£) Numbers of page impressions 
		
		
			 1 July 2000 to 31 March 2000 293.75 26,092 
			 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 293.75 194,991 
			 1 April 2001 to 31 January 2002 269.75 356,122

Statutory Instruments

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the statutory instruments issued by her Department in the last 12 months, indicating (a) the purpose of each and (b) the cost of each to (i) public funds, (ii) businesses and (iii) individuals.

Helen Liddell: The following is a list of the statutory instruments made by the Scotland Office in the 12 months to 31 December 2001:
	
		
			 SI reference SI title 
		
		
			 SI 2001/1399 The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) Order 2001 (Amends SI 1999/783) 
			 SI 2001/1400 The Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/1456 The Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/1748 The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/1750 The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/2478 The Scotland Act 1998 (Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/2748 The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (Conditions attached to PSV Operator's Licence and Competition Test for Exercise of Bus Functions) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/3504 The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) (No. 2) Order 2001 
			 SI 2001/497 Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 
			 SI 2001/1749 Representation of the People (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 
			 SI 2001/2817 Representation of the People (Form of Canvass) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 
		
	
	The purpose of each instrument is described in its explanatory note.
	There are no separately identifiable costs for the following statutory instruments to public funds, businesses or individuals, but I expect it to be minimal in each case:
	SI 2001/1400
	SI 2001/1456
	SI 2001/2478
	SI 2001/2748
	SI 2001/3504
	SI 2001/1748
	SI 2001/1750
	SI 2001/2817.
	Most of the costs of implementing the remaining instruments are not separately identifiable and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Voting devices for blind voters introduced by SI 2001/497 were provided centrally for the UK parliamentary election in Scotland in 2001 at a cost of £46,300. Other costs incurred by returning officers under SI 2001/497 and SI 2001/1399 can be reclaimed through the relevant Returning Officers' Charges Order. No extra provision has been made within the local government public expenditure plans for electoral registration officers implementing the new measures introduced by SI 2001/497, SI 2001/1749 and SI 2001/1399.

Ministerial Boxes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland by what means ministerial boxes are conveyed from private offices in her Department to (a) herself and (b) her fellow Ministers; how frequently and at what expense private courier firms are employed for such a task; and which courier firms have been used for such duties.

Helen Liddell: Ministerial boxes originating from my Department are transported to Ministers' homes either by Government car or by a service provided by the Royal Mail, if necessary.
	Ministerial boxes are also transported along with other mail between offices in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow by the inter-office van service. The contract for this service was awarded to Securitas by the former Scottish Office and it is now maintained by the Scottish Executive.

Health and Safety (Computers)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many employees in her Department who regularly use computers have taken up the provision of a free eye test; and how this service is advertised to (a) current and (b) new staff.

Helen Liddell: My staff are reimbursed for the cost of eyesight tests to ensure full compliance with Health and Safety legislation. Further to this, assistance in the purchase of spectacles or contact lenses to prescribed limits is also available to staff. This scheme is advertised on the departmental intranet site. All staff who regularly use computers have access to this site. Details of the numbers of Scotland Office staff who have taken up this provision of a free eye test are not available.

Nuclear Power Stations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what responsibility she has for planning consent for new nuclear power stations in Scotland.

Helen Liddell: Planning law is devolved. In addition, the power to grant authorisations for the construction of new power stations, under section 36 of the Electricity Act, has been executively devolved to the Scottish Ministers.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Prison Population

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Office in the last 12 months has revised its predictions of the growth in the prison population.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 5 March 2002
	Statistical bulletins concerning the long term prison population projections are issued every May; the last one was published on 23 May 2001. Short term projections are issued every May and November.
	A copy of the most recent long term projection is kept in the Library. Details of the current short term projection are included in the monthly "Prison Population Brief", which is available on the Home Office website at the following address: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ prisons1.html

Custody

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when and in what form he intends to publish his proposals in relation to part-time custody.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 5 March 2002
	Intermittent custody (part time custody) is being worked up as part of the package of sentencing reforms currently being considered by the Government in response to the "Making Punishments Work" report written by John Halliday. My intention is to publish a White Paper later this year.

Custody

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) independent custody visitors' groups and (b) lay observers' panels published their annual reports in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 5 March 2002
	Information about the number of independent (police) custody groups publishing annual reports in the last year is not kept centrally. However, each police authority's annual report should contain a reference to independent custody visiting within the relevant area.
	There are eight (prisoner escort) lay observers panels in England and Wales and all of them have published their annual reports in the last year.

Custody

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to bring boards of visitors, lay observers and independent custody visitors under a single umbrella organisation; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 5 March 2002
	There are no plans at present.

Experience Corps

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what senior appointments have been made to the board of Experience Corps; and on what terms.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 5 March 2002
	The Experience Corps is an independent company. Its appointments are subject to the memorandum and articles of association of the company. The current list of directors is listed on its website or is available from the company.

Experience Corps

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated to the Experience Corps; over what period; and how much had been spent by 31 December 2001.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 5 March 2002
	The Experience Corps company has been allocated a total of £19.9 million pounds for the period until 31 March 2004 to deliver the initiative. The first instalment of grant-in-aid was paid in September 2001. By 31 December 2001, the Home Office had paid a total of £2.8 million in grant-in-aid to the Experience Corps company.

Experience Corps

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the performance of the Experience Corps to date.

Angela Eagle: The Experience Corps company was established in March 2001 and signed a financial agreement with the Home Office in September 2001. It is organising separate launches in each of the nine government regions of England; the first took place in November 2001 and they will be completed by April 2002. It has the objective of 250,000 volunteers over the lifetime of the initiative. We will receive a report on the first six months' progress by the summer.

Date Rape

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives police authorities on investigating allegations of date rape involving use of gammahydroxybutyrate.

John Denham: Guidance on good practice in rape investigation is available to the police from the National Crime Faculty, who are able where necessary to draw on expertise elsewhere in the service on the investigation of cases where rape may have been facilitated by the administration of drugs. In addition, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will shortly be publishing the report of a thematic inspection of rape investigation. The Government have accepted in principle that gammahydroxybutyrate (GHB) should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and the Home Office published on 4 March 2002 a consultation letter on this proposal.

Human Rights Act

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what monitoring of compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 in young offenders institutions his Department has undertaken; and what resources have been made available for this.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 6 March 2002
	All prison service policies have been audited for compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and all prison service activities, both in relation to prisoners and staff, have to comply with the Act. The Prison Service monitors young offender institutions and other establishments by means of some 60 performance standards. Independent Boards of Visitors are present in all establishments, whose members have a right to visit all parts of the establishment at any time of day or night. Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons inspects establishments on a regular cycle and also makes unannounced visits. Prisoners and young offenders may make complaints to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. An operational area manager at Assistant Director level was appointed on 1 April 2001, specifically to oversee the juvenile estate. A unit in Prison Service headquarters disseminates information about the Human Rights Act and monitors challenges under the Act. All these activities take account of human rights among other matters but the costs cannot be separately identified.

Human Rights Act

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what monitoring of compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 in asylum accommodation centres his Department has undertaken; and what resources have been made available for this.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 6 March 2002
	Trial accommodation centres have not yet been established. However, the process of establishing them will include an assessment of all the relevant factors including compatibility with the Human Rights Act.

Immigration

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the immigration status of a person who is given permanent leave to remain in the UK because they are marrying a British citizen who divorces that person a number of years later; and if such a person then has a right to a claim on public funds.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 7 March 2002
	A person granted indefinite leave to remain on the basis of their marriage to a British Citizen does not forfeit that status if they later divorce. They will retain their settled status and their eligibility for public funds.

Immigration

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people whose immigration status is irregular in terms of (a) visitors who have overstayed, (b) students who have overstayed, (c) asylum seekers who have exhausted their appeal rights and (d) illegal entrants who have made no attempt to regularise their stay; what information he has on the average length of stay of such people; and what his policy is for regularising their situation.

Angela Eagle: No estimates have been made of the number of persons in the categories requested and information on the average length of stay of such persons is not available. No Government have ever been able to give reliable estimates of this nature. However, the Home Office has commissioned a study which will consider methods of estimating the size and characteristics of the illegal population.
	It remains our policy that overstayers and illegal entrants are liable to removal from the United Kingdom. The Immigration Service seeks to remove from the United Kingdom all persons who no longer have any basis of stay.

Crime Statistics

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of violent crime was in each constituency in Wales in (a) 1997 and (b) 2001.

John Denham: Recorded crime data are not collected by parliamentary constituency. Information on numbers of certain offences, including violent crime, has been collected centrally at police Basic Command Unit (BCU), and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership level, since 1 April 1999. The Home Office statistical bulletin "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to March 2001", published on 19 July 2001, includes details of recorded crimes in these areas.
	The British Crime Survey has shown that, in England and Wales as a whole, victimisation for the violent crime in the survey which is comparable to recorded crime decreased by 19 per cent. between the 1999 and 2000 calendar years, whereas comparable violent crime recorded by the police increased by 9 per cent. Violent crime recorded by the police may therefore not necessarily be a reflection of real changes in the level of victimisation.

Animal Experiments

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to establish a mandatory central database for registering animal experiments to enable the sharing of results.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 4 March 2002
	It is already Home Office policy to encourage the publication of the findings of research licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate, which assesses and advises on licence applications made under the 1986 Act, uses a range of resources to keep abreast of developments and results in research. The scientific community also maintains and uses databases to the same end.
	However, the establishment of a mandatory central database for this purpose would be problematic. There would, in particular, be significant difficulties in ensuring the completeness and quality of the data and in ensuring that intellectual or commercial confidentiality were not compromised.
	We believe that there is scope for further reducing the risk of duplication in the use of animals in scientific procedures by encouraging companies to share data. To this end, in August 2000, we announced an inter- departmental concordat on data sharing to enable Government Departments to reduce the duplication of tests on animals. The concordat commits United Kingdom regulatory authorities to help resolve legal and other obstacles and encourage data sharing between clients and thereby reduce animal tests. Progress in implementing the concordat will be reviewed in the next few months.
	Moreover, there are a number of international and national initiatives to encourage data sharing. Most recent European directives under which regulatory work is done provide for the sharing of data. International assessment programmes have well-established and effective methods for data sharing, ensuring mutual acceptance of data and dissemination of information on chemicals. This also extends to dissemination of data to developing countries.

Animal Experiments

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to promote investment in alternatives to animal experiments; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 4 March 2002
	The use of alternatives is widely encouraged and the use of animals in regulated procedures is prohibited by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in cases where a scientifically valid non-animal alternative is available. Any lack of progress in research into alternatives is more often due to the limitations of science rather than inadequate funding.
	Most work on alternatives is neither done by Government nor with Government money, as industry spends many millions of pounds each year on the search for and development of alternatives. None the less, every year the Home Office makes available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget for research aimed at developing or promoting the use of alternatives which replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used, or refine the procedures involved to minimise suffering. Details of completed research projects are published in the annual report of the Animal Procedures Committee, which is available from The Stationery Office. The amount made available to the Committee for 2001–02 for this specific purpose has increased to £280,000.
	This is not the only money spent by the Government on the development of alternatives, as other Departments are also active in this area. Indeed, it is estimated that the total spent by the United Kingdom Government is in the region of £2 million each year. To take this further on an international level, we will continue to support the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) through contributions to the European Union.

Working Conditions and Practices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the effect of the working time directive on his Department's employees; how many employees are working in excess of 48 hours per week; what steps he is taking to reduce this number; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: No formal assessment of the effect of the working time directive has been undertaken but it forms part of the Department's drive to reduce long-hours working by its staff. The Home Office is committed to achieving a proper work life balance for all staff as one part of its plans for greater diversity. Guidance to staff issued in November 2001 highlighted the requirements of the directive and emphasised the importance the Department places upon ensuring that employees are not required to work excessively long hours and the steps that managers should be taking to reduce them. Standard terms and conditions for staff employed by the Home Office are well within the limits set by the Working Time Regulations.
	Centrally held records show that 83 Home Office staff have signed voluntary waivers, indicating that they have agreed to work in excess of 48 hours per week, averaged over a 17 week period. Records of staff signing these waivers in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the Home Office agencies are not currently available centrally though the information is held locally.

Europol

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the activities of the European Task Force of Police Chiefs, as identified in Council Document 13416/2/01, JA1 133.

Bob Ainsworth: The Council Document referred to reports on the achievements of the Tampere action plan, when Heads of State and Government agreed, at Tampere in October 1999, to an ambitious programme of measures, which amplify and supplement the Amsterdam Treaty obligations but serve also to support the Treaty goal of creating an "area of freedom, security and justice". One of the areas for action is the Union-wide fight against international organised crime. The Police Chiefs Task Force (PCTF) was established to redress the problem that there was no forum in which senior police officers could decide to launch police operations against organised crime on the basis of Europol analyses.
	The task force has met on four occasions. Work still needs to be done to ensure that it focuses on the planning and execution of actual law enforcement operations at Union level, though these operations need not involve all member states. We also need to ensure that the task force is adequately supported, and that it has a defined place within the institutional architecture of the European Union. This could mean it having a similar role and status to the existing working groups, such as that on Police Co-operation and Europol. The possibility that Europol, as well as providing intelligence could also provide a secretariat, serving both the Europol Management Board and the PCTF is being examined.

Europol

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the report to the Justice and Home Affairs Council by the Director of Europol on the coalition against terrorism.

Angela Eagle: The Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) of 20 September 2001 urged member states' police and intelligence services to ensure that relevant information on terrorist activity be passed to Europol and invited the Director of Europol to report to the JHA Council on 6/7 December 2001 on member states' input. In his report, the Director noted member states' increased willingness to share information with Europol. The Government are committed to enhanced international co-operation against terrorism both within and outside the European union and fully supports Europol's counter-terrorist remit. This commitment is reflected in the Europol Director's recognition of the level of contributions offered by the police and intelligence services, in accordance with the terms of the Europol Convention, to Europol's counter-terrorism effort.

Europol

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Europol-US agreement.

Bob Ainsworth: This agreement concluded on 6 December 2001 provides for exchanges of information between Europol and the United States of America, covering strategic information including trends and developments in the methods used to commit offences, prevention strategies, threat assessments and crime situation reports. It specifically excludes the transmission of personal data. The Government attach importance to this agreement in the fight against organised crime.

Laeken Summit

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what programmes are envisaged under paragraph 40 of the Laeken conclusions, combating discrimination and racism.

Angela Eagle: Paragraph 40 of the conclusions of the Laeken Council identifies areas in which further work is needed in order to progress towards a common European Union immigration and asylum policy. It was agreed at the Tampere Council in October 1999 that measures to ensure the fair treatment of third country nationals, including measures to tackle discrimination and racism and xenophobia, should form part of such a policy. Key developments in implementing the Tampere Conclusions in this respect have included the adoption by the Council of two equal treatment directives in June 2000 and November 2000 respectively and the adoption of a Council Decision in November 2000 on a Community Action Programme (2001–06) to support member states' efforts in this area.
	The Community Action Programme will explore practical ways of overcoming the barriers created by discrimination in many areas of everyday life by comparing and contrasting experiences in different parts of the European Union. The programme will work with national, local and regional bodies, social partners, non-governmental organisations, universities and research institutes, national statistical offices and the media on issues such as equality in public administration and the media, equal participation in political, economic and social life; equal access to housing, transport, culture, leisure, sport etc., and the monitoring and mainstreaming of anti-discrimination policies.
	The Council has also recently started to consider a Commission proposal for a Framework Decision on combating racist crime.

Laeken Summit

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards increasing the number of JHA sessions under paragraph 37 of the Laeken conclusions, with reference to an increase in legislation and parliamentary scrutiny requirements.

Angela Eagle: The Laeken European Council concluded that holding more frequent meetings of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Ministers would help to overcome delays in implementing the conclusions of the Tampere European Council of October 1999. The Government attach great importance to the implementation of the Tampere European Council's conclusions and support more frequent meetings of JHA ministers provided that such meetings are focused on resolving obstacles to agreement on key measures in the Tampere programme. We also consider that two-day JHA Council meetings should be the exception rather than the rule.
	The legislative work programme agreed at the Tampere European Council is substantial. Measures under negotiation in the Council are subject to scrutiny by Parliament, and some will require domestic legislation to implement. The increasing volume of justice and home affairs business at European Union level will have implications of our Parliament.

Laeken Summit

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards paragraph 43 of the Laeken conclusions, on the Public Prosecutor.

Bob Ainsworth: The Commission Green Paper on Criminal Law protection of financial interests of the Community and the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor was published in December 2001. Its purpose is to launch a wide-ranging public debate about the possible creation of a European Public Prosecutor, responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases of fraud against the Community budget. Member states have been asked to provide responses to the paper by 1 June 2002, and the Commission intends to hold a public hearing for interested parties in 2002.
	A European Public Prosecutor as proposed by the Commission could be created only after amendment of the European Community Treaty. The Government remain unconvinced of the need for a European Public Prosecutor, and sees difficulties of both principle and practice in this proposal. We are preparing a response to the Green Paper, in consultation with interested departments and agencies, including non-governmental organisations.

Schengen Agreement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the purpose of Council Document 11896/01, amending UK participation in the Schengen Agreement.

Bob Ainsworth: Council Document 11896–01 contains a proposal to amend Article 40.1 and 40.7 of the Schengen Convention. It is currently under negotiation within the Justice and Home Affairs Council and has been deposited for scrutiny by the European Scrutiny Committees of both Houses.
	The purpose of the proposed amendments is to remove existing restrictions to the operation of cross-border surveillance between participating member states. The proposal would amend Article 40.1 to allow cross-border surveillance not only of the person suspected of having taken part in an extraditable criminal offence but also of other persons in the context of the criminal investigation. Article 40.7 would be amended to extend the list of extraditable offences for which cross-border surveillance may be carried out. Adoption of the proposal will be subject to unanimity. The United Kingdom (UK) broadly supports the amendment. Implementation in the UK will be subject to the requirements of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and practical operation will be subject to UK police control.
	The terms in which the UK will participate in certain areas of the Schengen Convention are set out in the council decision of 29 May 2000 (2000/365/EC). The UK will participate in Article 40 of the Schengen Convention and under the terms of Article 8 of the decision of 29 May 2000, the UK is participating in the adoption of the amendment. Preparation for UK participation in the specified areas of Schengen are under way, and will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what penalties will be imposed by him against those who escaped from Yarl's Wood following the fire but were recaptured;
	(2)  what penalties including loss of asylum rights are available to him to impose on those who are at large following the Yarl's Wood fire who are asylum seekers.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 February 2002
	The Immigration Acts do not at present provide for adverse inferences to be drawn from behaviour such as absconding or escaping from a removal centre. However, in the case of persons who were held pending removal, their removal could of course proceed once they are apprehended. Individuals who have outstanding applications or appeals would be detained pending the outcome of those matters. In the case of individuals who remain at large, the consideration of any outstanding asylum applications would proceed on the basis of the information available and this could well result in refusal. Similarly, appellants who fail to attend the hearing of their appeals would damage their chances at appeal.
	Under the new arrangements set out in the White Paper, "Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain", all asylum seekers will be expected to comply fully with the more managed systems that are being put in place. If they do not do so, it will adversely affect the credibility of their claim for asylum and will increase the chances of their claim being refused.

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average response time was for responding to departmental correspondence; what percentage of letters took longer than one month for a response; and what percentage took longer than three months for a response in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The available information on public correspondence relates solely to volumes, the number, and proportion of replies sent within the 20 working day target. The information is not held in such a way as to provide the more detailed breakdown requested, and has been collected only since 1999. It does not currently include information on public correspondence received by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.
	Table A gives the information available for public correspondence:
	
		Table A: Letters received from the public through 1999 to 2001
		
			   Volume of letters received Performance—percentage answered within 20 working days 
		
		
			 1999 26,616 57 
			 2000 34,471 71 
			 2001 35,549 76 
		
	
	The following tables give the information requested for MPs' correspondence. Information on letters on immigration and nationality matters, which make up roughly half the postbag, is set out in table C. Non-immigration and nationality correspondence is set out in table B.
	
		Table B: Letters received from MPs through 1997 to 2001(5)
		
			   Average  Performance— percentage of replies taking more than:  
			  Number of replies sent response time in working days  One calendar month Three calendar months 
		
		
			 1997 8,517 33 56 4 
			 1998 11,954 24 47 6 
			 1999 11,471 17 14 2 
			 2000 11,206 19 18 2 
			 2001 8,341 22 25 2 
		
	
	(5) Non-immigration and nationality correspondence
	
		Table C: Letters received from MPs through 1997 to 2001(6)
		
			   Average  Performance— percentage of replies taking more than:  
			  Number of replies sent response time in working days One calendar month Three calendar months 
		
		
			 1997 7,423 32 64 5 
			 1998 8,167 34 53 10 
			 1999 7,501 40 75 13 
			 2000 9,596 51 67 24 
			 2001 8,954 43 60 16 
		
	
	(6) Immigration and nationality matters
	The Home Department receives large amounts of correspondence from hon. Members, right hon. Friends, hon. Friends and members of the public. We aim to send a substantive reply to all letters as soon as possible. I am determined to achieve a high level of performance in dealing quickly with correspondence and to deliver a greater standard of service to all Members of Parliament and the public.
	We are working with our information technology partners to develop a long term strategy for handling correspondence, e-mails and telephone inquires. In the short term we are implementing a number of organisational and process changes to bring about improvements in the quality and timeliness of replies. I am monitoring the situation closely and am committed to further improvements.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Rail Journeys (Staff)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the (a) percentage and number of rail journeys undertaken on first class tickets, (b) average cost of a first class journey by rail and (c) total cost of rail travel in each of the past four years broken down by grade of civil servant.

John Reid: As we do not hold the information requested in the format required, an answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, how many plastic baton rounds have been (a) expended and (b) decommissioned at the end of their active lifespan; and what the maximum life is of a plastic baton round.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable advises me that: (a) During the period 1981 to 21 November 2001 a total of 41,839 baton rounds were discharged by the police.
	(b) No L21 baton rounds have been decommissioned: they are not at the end of their life span. Stock rotation ensures that rounds nearing the expiry of their shelf life are used for training purposes only. The recommended shelf life of the current L21 baton rounds is 1.5 years.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, by what process unspent plastic baton rounds are disposed of; what body carries out this function and at what cost; and what proportion of disposed pbrs leave the armoury in their original container as supplied.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable advises me that as operational stocks are recycled through training baton rounds are only disposed of when there has been an official change in the specification. In these circumstances the rounds are boxed in metal H83 containers which are inspected and sealed by the Army at no cost to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
	Baton rounds for disposal leave the Police Service of Northern Ireland in H83 metal ammunition boxes only. When handed over to the Army the rounds are removed from plastic 'outers' and are packed loose in bathes of 25. None of the original containers as supplied leave police premises.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, in what type of containers plastic baton rounds are supplied to the police.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable advises me that baton rounds are received by the police service of Northern Ireland in UN approved packaging. The packaging is reinforced cardboard boxes, marked UN 4G/Y23/S/99/GB/4031. Each box contains five clear plastic, custom made, carrying bags (GPL SPEC 2757).

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, how and in what condition plastic baton rounds are stored (a) upon supply, (b) following distribution to barracks and (c) following issue to individual officers.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable advises me that: (a) Upon receipt by the police service of Northern Ireland baton rounds are stored in their original UN approved packaging within a temperature controlled and secure ammunition magazine.
	(b) In preparation for distribution the baton rounds (still within their individual plastic carrying bags) are repackaged, in batches of 16, into metal ammunition boxes known as 'H83s'. The H83s are UN approved and carry the marking UN 4A1/Y19/S/90/GB/0355. On arrival at police stations it has been customary to remove the plastic outer bag within the H83 box. The boxes are stored in the police station armoury until required.
	(c) Individual officers requiring access to baton rounds outside the police station are supplied with an H83 box for that purpose.

Press Releases

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many press releases were issued by his Department (a) between 1 May and 31 December 1997 and (b) in each year from 1998 to 2001 inclusive.

John Reid: Press releases issued by my Department are as follows:
	
		
			  Month/year Number 
		
		
			 1 May to 31 December 1997 844 
			 1998 1,313 
			 1999 1,055 
			 2000 231 
			 2001 248 
			 2002 as of 1 March 60

Police Injuries

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers were injured in the course of performing their duties in Northern Ireland in 2000.

Jane Kennedy: The table provides details of police officers injured as a result of terrorism or serious public disorder. Statistics on the number of police officers injured by other means (eg RTAs, and assaults while dealing with routine inquires) are not included.
	
		Security situation statistics 2000
		
			 Police officers injured as a result of the security situation/serious public disorder  Number 
		
		
			 Regular 350 
			 Reserve 96 
			  
			 Total 446

Consultants

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  which non-accounting and non- information technology external organisations have won new contracts with (a) his Department and (b) executive agencies in each of the past five years;
	(2)  if he will list the 30 largest contracts awarded by his Department from (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999, (c) May 1999 to April 2000, (d) May 2000 to April 2001 and (e) May 2001 to the latest date, indicating in each case the values of the contracts and the companies with which the contracts were placed;
	(3)  which non-accounting and non-information technology external organisations which previously held contracts with his Department (a) won new contracts at the culmination of the existing contracts and (b) won new contracts after a period of inactivity with his Department in each of the past five years.

John Reid: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Capita Group

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many contracts the Department has with Capita; and how much they are worth.

John Reid: None.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Fair Trade

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether fair trade products are sold in his Department.

Michael Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department also replies on behalf of its associated offices and the Court Service.
	Within the context of the Department's limited opportunity to buy fair trade goods, we take every opportunity to encourage their purchase in line with Government policy.
	For instance, at our headquarters building, our caterers currently offer fair trade coffee. In addition, our caterers in our courts in the northern, north-eastern and north Wales regions offer both fair trade tea and coffee.
	Both these suppliers have also agreed to promote the Fairtrade Foundation during Fair Trade Fortnight that runs from 4 to 17 March.

CAFCASS

David Lepper: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on how the recommendations of the Advisory Board on Family Law: Children Act Sub-Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the question of parental contract in cases where there is domestic violence have been adopted by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.

Rosie Winterton: The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) have ensured that the Advisory Board on Family Law: Children Act Sub-Committee's guidelines on parental contact where there are allegations of domestic violence have been promulgated to its staff. The Lord Chancellor's Department are monitoring the effectiveness of the guidelines, including their use by CAFCASS. CAFCASS is also a member of the Lord Chancellor's Working Group on Child Contact Centres to improve procedures for referral to contact centres in cases, including those where there has been domestic violence.

Human Rights

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will review the United Kingdom's position under the various international human rights instruments.

Michael Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department will conduct a review with the following terms of reference:
	"To review the United Kingdom's position on international human rights instruments in the light of experience of the operation of the Human Rights Act, the availability of existing remedies within the UK, and law and practice in other EU member states; and to report by spring 2003".
	The review will consult widely within and outside Government. We hope to report the outcome in about a year's time.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Sports Bodies

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 13 February 2002, Official Report, column 409W, on sports clubs, 
	(1)  on what evidence base the Government drew up proposals for reforming the system of rate relief for voluntary sports clubs contained in the White Paper, "Strong Local Leadership-Quality Public Services";
	(2)  whether official figures on rateable values define non-profit making sports bodies as a distinct category; and on what evidence the Government drew up the proposals for reforming the system of rate relief for voluntary sports clubs contained in the White Paper, "Strong Local Leadership-Quality Public Services".

Alan Whitehead: I have been asked to reply.
	Rateable values for all non-domestic properties are published in the rating list for each billing authority in England. These indicate the type of each property, but do not record information about the occupiers of those properties. Sporting properties are identified by a number of categories, including bowling greens, clubhouses, cricket grounds/pitches, pavilions, golf courses, polo grounds, sports grounds, tennis courts/clubs, football grounds, football pitches, rugby union grounds. However, the rating lists do not show whether or not the occupiers of those properties are non-profit making sports bodies.
	The proposals on rate relief for voluntary sports clubs in the White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services", follow consultation in the Green Paper, "Modernising Local Government Finances", which was published in September 2000. They are based on discussions with sports representative bodies and representations from many individual sports clubs. The White Paper proposals also take account of the decision of the Charity Commission, announced on 30 November 2001, to recognise community amateur sports clubs for charitable status. Both the White Paper proposals on rates and the Charity Commission announcement took account of evidence proved by the sports bodies and other sports clubs.

Public Appointments (Warrington, North)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people from Warrington, North she has appointed to non-departmental public bodies since 1997.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 5 March 2002
	Since 1997 my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) and I have made around 280 public appointments to non- departmental public bodies. Our records indicate that, while two of these live in Warrington, none live in the Warrington, North constituency.

WALES

Secondments

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department have been seconded to jobs in the (a) private and (b) public sector in each of the last four years.

Paul Murphy: In respect of the former Welsh Office (up to June 1999): figures are not available for 1998–99; there was one secondment to the private sector and 30 secondments to the public sector in 1999–2000.
	In respect of the Wales Office (since July 1999): there were no secondments in 1999–2000; there have been two secondments to the public sector in 2001–02.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the names of staff who have been seconded to his Department from the private sector since May 1997, indicating (a) the names of the organisation from which each has come, (b) their responsibilities and civil service grades within his Department, (c) the organisation responsible for paying their salary and (d) the start and end dates of their secondment.

Paul Murphy: holding answer 12 February 2002
	Figures are not available for 1997–98.
	For 1998–99—Nil.
	For 1999–2000 there were three people seconded to the Welsh Office (up to 30 June 1999) from the private sector.
	For 2000–01 and 2001–02 there were no staff seconded to the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales from the private sector.

Cockle Gathering

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has held with Secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales on the prohibition on cockle gathering in the Burny Inlet caused by diarrhetic shellfish poisoning.

Don Touhig: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I regularly meet Assembly Ministers and cockle gathering is an issue which has been discussed.
	In addition, I recently met representatives of the cockle-gathering industry in the Gower together with the Assembly Member for that constituency, Edwina Hart. I have been made fully aware of the problems that the cockle gatherers are facing, the difficulties caused by the cockle beds being closed for eight months and the impact that that has had on their industry and livelihood.

Asthma

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many local education authorities in Wales are implementing an asthma policy.

Paul Murphy: This is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Cynon Valley

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) job losses have been announced and (b) new jobs have been created in the Cynon Valley for each year since 1997; and what percentage were unemployed in February (i) 2002 and (ii) 1997.

Paul Murphy: There is no authoritative record of announced job losses and gains.
	The percentage of unemployed claimants in the Cynon Valley Parliamentary Constituency stood at 7.1 per cent. in January 2002 (the latest available figure). The equivalent figure in January 1997 was 16.1 per cent.

Cynon Valley

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales about the use of European structural funds to create employment in the Cynon Valley.

Paul Murphy: I meet regularly with the First Minister when we discuss a range of issues affecting Wales.
	The Cynon Valley is within the designated Objective 1 area. A key aim of the Objective 1 programme is to promote growth in employment and increase economic activity by developing small and medium sized businesses and encouraging community economic regeneration and rural development.
	Two major projects under the Rhondda Cynon Taff Partnership have been approved. Funding of £2.5 million has been made available for the Glamorgan Centre for Information and £1.4 million for a grant scheme for small to medium sized enterprises.
	It is also appropriate to mention that the Assembly's Wales European Funding Office itself has a significant presence in the Cynon Valley.

Cynon Valley

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales regarding prospects for manufacturing growth through inward investment in the Cynon Valley;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales regarding prospects for employment growth in areas other than manufacturing through inward investment in the Cynon Valley.

Paul Murphy: I meet regularly with the First Minister to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales. The National Assembly and their partners in Team Wales are committed to promoting all areas of Wales to potential overseas investors. Their aim is to encourage manufacturing growth alongside service sector developments to ensure a diverse, successful Welsh economy.

Welsh Development Agency

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales about the work of the Welsh Development Agency in (a) Cynon Valley, (b) Rhondda, Cynon, Taff and (c) Wales.

Paul Murphy: I meet regularly with the First Minister to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales.
	The Welsh Development Agency has an all-Wales remit to further economic development, promote industrial efficiency and international competitiveness, and to improve the environment. In drawing up its plans and policies, the agency takes account of the balance of need between the regions in Wales, in terms of the amount and nature of the assistance that each requires in order to maximise its potential and that of Wales as a whole.
	The Cynon Valley, and Rhondda Cynon Taff as a whole will benefit from being within the Objective 1 area, giving it priority for economic regeneration.

Relocation Expenses

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his policy is on the payment of relocation expenses to staff in his Department.

Paul Murphy: The permanent civil servants in my Department are all secondees from elsewhere and so would ordinarily qualify for (temporary) detached duty terms rather than (permanent) relocation. If ever it became appropriate, however, the Wales Office would pay relocation expenses in accordance with the approach set out in the Terms and Conditions of Service of the National Assembly for Wales.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Statutory Instruments

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the statutory instruments issued by his Department in the last 12 months, indicating (a) the purpose of each and (b) the cost of each to (i) public funds, (ii) businesses and (iii) individuals.

Nick Brown: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	From 1 March 2002, explanatory memoranda will be provided for all affirmative instruments as announced by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House, 1 February 2002, Official Report, column 585.

Disability Benefits

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the remuneration of SchlumbergerSema Medical Services under the contract with his Department to assess entitlements to disability benefits is linked with the proportion of claims for disability benefits which are successful.

Nick Brown: There is no link between the charges for services provided by SchlumbergerSema, for medical advice and guidance, and the outcome of claims for disability benefits.

Employer Direct

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the performance of Employer Direct in finding work for unemployed people.

Nick Brown: Employer Direct is a new service that enables employers to notify job vacancies to the Department using a unique telephone number. It provides a more efficient and effective service, available for longer hours than previously when employers notified vacancies through their local jobcentres.
	Employer Direct is still under development. However, evidence from an earlier pilot suggests that it does attract more vacancies and that the information collected about those vacancies is more comprehensive and clear, thus presenting unemployed people with a wider and better choice of job vacancies. The Department began to collect statistics about the number of calls to Employer Direct in March 2001. Since then, over 875,000 calls have been received by this telephone helpline (figures correct to the end of December 2001).

Benefits Offices (Facilities)

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is towards the provision of (a) toilet and (b) child facilities for claimants using benefits offices; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Brown: Public toilets have not traditionally been a feature in Jobcentres and Benefits Agency offices. However staff are sympathetic to the needs of customers, especially those with children, and can and do make staff toilets available where possible. This position has been reviewed with the introduction of the Jobcentre Plus Pathfinder offices, and the generic design includes the provision of toilets for both disabled and able-bodied customers. However, space limitations in the 56 recently completed Pathfinder offices has meant that the provision of toilets has not been possible in most sites.
	The new Jobcentre Plus design and layout is being evaluated and we will endeavour to ensure that the provision of toilets becomes a more prominent and consistent feature.
	The presence of children in Jobcentre/Jobcentre Plus offices has been an increasing consideration in their design over recent years, especially since the introduction of the new deal for lone parents. All public Employment Service offices have acknowledged this presence in the design of furniture components with rounded edges and concealed cable management arrangements. Child facilities have not traditionally been a feature in Benefits Agency offices.
	However the introduction of Jobcentre Plus has allowed for this need to be further addressed. Many of the Pathfinders have children's play tables installed both in waiting areas and adjacent to the parent adviser desks. These allow for parents and guardians to participate in interviews with less distraction while still keeping a close eye on the children. Customer waiting times have been reduced by arranging timed appointments for advisory interviews.

Departmental Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 150W, what has been the cost to public funds of the publications issued by his Department between 8 June and 26 October 2001.

Nick Brown: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Assaults

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures his Department has in place to protect Benefits Agency staff from assault.

Nick Brown: Regular health and safety risk assessments and safety inspections are conducted to ensure the safety of staff in Benefits Agency offices. These assessments are reviewed whenever new services are introduced.

Assaults

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) Benefits Agency and (b) Job Centre staff have been assaulted at their place of work in each of the last seven years in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) the Uxbridge constituency.

Nick Brown: The information requested is in the table. These cases cover all case of physical contact of any kind including throwing of small items or touching of any kind. Data are not held at constituency level and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	In recent years a possible under-reporting of incidents concerned both management and trade unions. An improved reporting form was introduced in April 1999, followed by a campaign by the Public and Commercial Services Union on reporting in 2000. The rise in reported incidents in the years from 1999 reflects this.
	Data from before 1997 in the Benefits Agency and 1999 in the Employment Service are not broken down by country. The Department does not hold information on Northern Ireland as this is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
	
		
			Employment Service  Benefits Agency  
			   England Scotland Wales England Scotland Wales Unknown 
		
		
			 1997 — — — 73 6 8 13 
			 1998 — — — 24 5 4 8 
			 1999 225 14 6 108 13 8 — 
			 2000 222 7 4 142 10 12 — 
			 2001 210 2 10 110 7 18 —

Assaults

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Benefits Agency staff have been (a) threatened and (b) assaulted in each of the past five years.

Nick Brown: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Over 20 million people pass through BA offices every year. Against that background, the table shows the number of cases of physical contact of any kind between a member of staff and a client (which could include spitting, the throwing of small items such as paper clips or rolled up forms, or touching of any kind), and those which did not involve any such contact. The second category includes verbal abuse, threats or incidents where clients damaged equipment.
	In recent years, both management and trade unions became concerned by a possible under-reporting of incidents. An improved reporting form was introduced in April 1999, followed by a PCS campaign on reporting in 2000. As the PCS accepts, in their evidence to the Social Security Select Committee, the rise in reported incidents in the calendar years 2000 and 2001 reflects this.
	
		
			  Year Cases of physical contact Cases not involving physical contact 
		
		
			 1997 100 3,426 
			 1998 41 3,092 
			 1999 129 3,561 
			 2000 164 5,148 
			 2001 134 4,863 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Following further investigation of data held for 1999 and 2000 these figures have been revised.
	2. For 2001 the figures are based on information to date. These figures are based on the reports so far received, other incidents may have occurred but may not yet have been reported.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with staff representatives about the impact of the introduction of Jobcentre Plus on staffing levels;
	(2)  how many jobs have been lost to date as a result of the introduction of Jobcentre Plus; and how many have been lost from the (a) Benefits Agency and (b) Employment Service;
	(3)  whether job losses will result from the integration of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service; and how many of these will be (a) enforced redundancies, (b) voluntary redundancies and (c) early retirement;
	(4)  how many people employed by the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service will be moving to take up employment in new Jobcentre Plus offices; and what the timetable for such movements is.

Nick Brown: The Chief Executives of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service wrote to all staff on 23 April 2001. They reassured staff that a key aim in developing plans for Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service would be to enable all current staff to have a job in the new organisations or one of the other agencies in the Department.
	Currently some 112,000 employees work in the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. In April this year some 90,000 staff will move from the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service to Jobcentre Plus with the remainder moving to the Pension Service and a small number moving to other parts of the Department.

Jobcentre Plus

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in interim payments to benefit claimants who would otherwise have been affected by the strike in Jobcentre Plus offices; and how many claimants have received interim payments.

Malcolm Wicks: As at 11 February an estimated £3.2 million had been paid in interim payments to customers affected by the industrial action since the dispute began. The number of customers in total that have received interim payments since the start of industrial action is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Around 4,700 customers are currently in receipt of weekly or fortnightly interim payments.

Jobcentre Plus

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2002 to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb), Official Report, column 688W, on incapacity benefit, what information the Government collect about people who claim incapacity benefit at Jobcentre Plus offices.

Nick Brown: Jobcentre Plus collect information about people claiming benefits according to which client group they belong to. Information collected about the incapacitated or disabled persons client group, which includes incapacity benefit customers, includes the number of these people:
	Making a claim through Jobcentre Plus;
	Attending work-focused interviews;
	Failing to attend work-focused interviews;
	Having their work-focused interview deferred or waived;
	Attending review meetings;
	Referred to the new deal for disabled people;
	Applying for a job;
	Moving into work;
	Taking a place on training courses; and
	Leaving the system and, where possible, the reasons why.
	Information is collected about the number of claims there are to incapacity benefit and the speed and accuracy of processing these claims. This data are not collected in a way that would allow claims made through Jobcentre Plus pathfinder sites to be disaggregated from those made through normal Benefits Agency offices. In addition to statistical data, personal information is collected from incapacity benefit claimants in order to process their claims.

Benefits (Single Parents)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what action the Government will take to facilitate the provision of (a) housing and (b) council tax benefit to single mothers who are deemed ineligible for such benefits on the grounds of co-tenanting the same premises with a member of the opposite sex with whom they have no relations;
	(2)  what action the Government will take to ensure that a single parent co-habiting premises with an unassociated member of the opposite sex is placed in the same position for provision of (a) housing and (b) council tax benefit as single parents co-habiting the same premises with a same sex partner.

Malcolm Wicks: Housing benefit and council tax benefit (HB/CTB) are income-related benefits and entitlement is calculated by looking at an individual's circumstances and income. HB/CTB claims from people who are joint tenants are treated in the same way as any other HB/CTB claim. It is a long-standing principle of the benefits system that where a person is a member of a married couple, or of an unmarried couple who are living together as husband and wife, the income and circumstances of their partner are taken into account when considering income-related benefit entitlement.
	We have no current plans to change these arrangements. The benefit treatment of same-sex couples will however be examined in the context of the interdepartmental study of civil partnership registration, announced by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, on 28 November 2001, Official Report, column 903W.

Benefit Appeals

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals have been launched against loss or reduction in (a) disability living allowance, (b) attendance allowance and (c) incapacity benefit; and what percentage were successful in each year since 1996 in the Stroud constituency.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available on a constituency basis, but only on the basis of the Appeals Service Agency Regional Centre in Cardiff.
	
		
			  Attendance allowance Disability living allowance Incapacity benefit 
		
		
			 1998
			 Caseload (UK) 1,241,700 2,014,200 2,301,700 
			 Number lodged at Cardiff Regional Centre 620 7,285 12,750 
			 Percentage of hearings found in favour 47.5 47.3 33.9 
			 
			 1999
			 Caseload (UK) 1,266,900 2,084,000 2,275,300 
			 Number lodged 885 8,230 8,115 
			 Percentage of hearings found in favour 48.6 49.9 35.9 
			 
			 2000
			 Caseload (UK) 1,270,500 2,160,300 2,286,200 
			 Number lodged 1,895 15,560 6,780 
			 Percentage of hearings found in favour 41.6 48.2 36.6 
			 
			  January 2001-end October 2001 
			 Caseload (UK) 1,294,300 2,271,100 2,337,800 
			 Number lodged 1,450 10,410 5,800 
			 Percentage of hearings found in favour 42.5 52.5 40.5 
		
	
	Notes:
	All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available.
	Caseload figures (UK) are rounded to the nearest 100.
	Lodged figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
	All caseload figures used are at 31 August of each year.
	Information prior to 1998 is not available.
	Source:
	Lodged and percentage of hearing figures: 100 per cent. download of the Generic Appeals Processing System
	Caseload figures: from 5 per cent. samples of the benefit computer systems.

Carers

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the financial assistance given to carers was last reviewed.

Maria Eagle: In autumn 2000 a substantial package of measures to help carers was announced. This amounts to over £500 million of extra support in the first three years covered by the announcement.
	It includes a number of improvements to the main carer benefits aimed in particular at helping older and poorer carers, as well as helping carers to keep in touch with work by making part-time employment more worthwhile financially.
	The package also included measures to remove the barrier that prevents people aged 65 or over from claiming invalid care allowance; ensure entitlement to ICA will continue for up to eight weeks after the death of the disabled person; and rename ICA as "carer's allowance".

Occupational Pension Schemes

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when a draft Bill will be produced on reforming minimum funding requirement arrangements for occupational pension schemes.

Maria Eagle: The Government have consulted widely on the future of the minimum funding requirement (MFR), and has announced their proposals to replace it with a long-term scheme specific funding standard in the context of a regime of transparency and disclosure, with additional measures to strengthen security. We are working closely with the pensions industry, consumer organisations, employers and trades unions to develop the details of our proposals, and will introduce primary legislation to replace the MFR as soon as parliamentary time is available.

Incapacity Benefit

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit recipients there were in each financial year since 1997, on a quarterly basis.

Nick Brown: The information is published in the Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance Quarterly Summary Statistics: August 2001, a copy of which is available in the Library. The information is also available on the Department's website, www.dwp.gov.uk/ asd/online.html.

Disability Discrimination Act

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 13 February 2002 to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable), Official Report, column 506W, on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, if he will make available in the Library the research which indicates an increase in awareness levels and changes to the policies and practices of employers and service providers.

Maria Eagle: Through research, the Government are monitoring awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 among a range of groups, including the general public, employers and service providers. We are also seeking to monitor the Act's impact on the policies and practices of employers and service providers. A number of DWP research reports exploring these issues are due to be published in the next few months. All these reports will be available in the House of Commons Library on publication.

Disability Discrimination Act

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the outcome of Government consultation on extending the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to cover the police service, with specific reference to the recruitment and retention to the police of people with diabetes.

Maria Eagle: Last year we issued a proposal for consultation on covering police officers within the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). This year we have proposed a number of other changes to the DDA in a current consultation document called "Towards Equality and Diversity". Some of these changes would have a bearing on the way in which disabled police officers and recruits, including any disabled by diabetes, are protected against discrimination.

HEALTH

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what decisions have been made on the future of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham heart and lung transplant unit; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 18 October 2001
	I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
	Our proposals for developing the adult heart and lung transplantation service are set out in the discussion document: National Adult Heart and Lung Transplant Service, published on 21 September 2001. A copy is available in the Library.

Motor Neurone Disease

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the current regulations which do not permit sufferers of motor neurone disease to obtain tissues required for their care by prescription.

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
	Neither our medical advisers nor the Motor Neurone Disease Association are aware of any particular requirement for tissues to be used to treat patients with motor neurone disease. We shall not, therefore, be making any changes to the regulations.

Lung Disease

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to establish a national strategy for lung disease.

Yvette Cooper: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
	We consider the provision of first class services for people with lung disease as very important. We are taking forward a number of initiatives to drive improvements in prevention, access and delivery of services. These include:
	Our £53 million investment in smoking cessation services, which has helped us exceed our "successful quitters" targets by over 50 per cent. in 2000–01—61,500 against a target of 40,000.
	£4.9 million has been spent on asthma projects throughout the United Kingdom through the national research and development programme.
	We have the launched the biggest ever campaign to immunise people against flu with targets to vaccinate 65 per cent. of over 65-year-olds.
	By 2003–04 an additional £570 million will have been invested in cancer care.
	Incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer are falling for men and incidence is falling for women.

Administrative Forms

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many administrative forms (a) have been and (b) are proposed to be introduced by his Department in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02.

John Hutton: Information on the overall numbers of administrative forms is not held centrally. However, the Department's Review of Central Returns Steering Committee (ROCR) Secretariat regulates the numbers of approved central returns from the NHS, and Statistics Division, acting for the Office for National Statistics Survey Control Unit, approves all non-NHS surveys and local authority returns.
	The table shows the number of returns for 2000–01, and 2001–02 to the end of February 2002 (the latest date for which figures are available).
	
		Department of Health numbers of information requests by year
		
			  One-off On-going 
		
		
			 2000–01   
			 Statistical and financial NHS 33 205 
			 Personal social services and other surveys 3 24 
			  
			 Total 36 229 
			
			 2001–02(7)   
			 Statistical and financial NHS 7 215 
			 Personal social services and other surveys 2 24 
			  
			 Total 9 239 
		
	
	(7) To end February 2002
	Notes:
	One-off requests are generally to meet short-term information demands. On-going returns include annual censuses, quarterly performance data and other information for which there is a continuing need.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence the Department has of the level of satisfaction of patients with chiropody and podiatry treatment.

Jacqui Smith: We have no national collected evidence of patients' levels of satisfaction with chiropody/podiatry treatment.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence the Department has collated of the effect on quality of life that effective foot health care can provide to (a) children, (b) the elderly and (c) other adults.

Jacqui Smith: We recognise the importance of effective delivery of chiropody/podiatry care especially helping older people maintain their mobility and independence. The National Service Framework for older people says that: specialised falls services which are established should include chiropodists/podiatrists; specialist mental health services for older people should have agreed working and referral arrangements with chiropodists and podiatrists; and it sets a performance measure for numbers/rates of people aged 75+ who access chiropody/podiatry services.
	We also recognise the necessity of access to chiropody/podiatry services for other groups including children and others in the adult population.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to issue guidance to (a) PCTs and (b) health authorities regarding (i) the minimum level of chiropody or podiatry service that should be available to patients and (ii) what level of chiropody or podiatry service should be available to patients wherever they live;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the appropriate level of chiropody and podiatry services that each primary care trust should commission;
	(3)  what guidance he plans to provide to strategic health authorities regarding the appropriate level of chiropody/podiatry services that each primary care trust should commission.

Jacqui Smith: No guidance has been issued to strategic health authorities (StHAs) or primary care trusts (PCTs) on levels of national health service chiropody/podiatry services to be commissioned, nor has any assessment been done.
	However, the Department has launched a "National Primary and Care Trust programme (NatPaCT)" designed to support PCTs in delivering their key functions which will be:
	Improving the health of the community
	Securing the provision of high quality services
	Integrating health and social care locally.
	As local organisations, PCTs are best placed to understand the needs of their patient populations. This will ensure that the right services are delivered to the right people in the right location at the right time.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department has collated on the extent to which the podiatry and chiropody needs of the population are being met by the NHS;
	(2)  what information the Department has, and what research his Department has assessed, on the need for chiropody and podiatry services among the general population.

Jacqui Smith: We recognise the importance of effective delivery of chiropody/podiatry care especially for older people, who make up approximately 18 per cent. of the general population, to maintain their mobility and independence. Other groups using chiropody/podiatry include children, pregnant women, people with diabetes and those with learning disabilities. Many national health service services are increasingly prioritising to ensure that these high-risk groups are treated and access chiropody/podiatry services before others.
	The Department has part funded, with the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, a research project by University College Northampton "Do 'low risk' older people need podiatry care". The results are awaited.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many foot operations have been undertaken in each of the last five years by (a) orthopaedic surgeons and (b) podiatric surgeons;
	(2)  what the average cost is of a foot operation when undertaken by (a) an orthopaedic surgeon and (b) a podiatric surgeon.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected in this form.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department has collated on the percentage of the population who have consulted a chiropodist or podiatrist in each of the last five years; and what percentage of the population have ever been treated by a chiropodist or podiatrist;
	(2)  in each of the last five years, how many (a) face to face contacts there were between patients and chiropodists or podiatrists, (b) new courses of treatment were started and (c) individual podiatry patients were treated.

Jacqui Smith: No information on the percentage of the population who have consulted a chiropodist or podiatrist is collected centrally. Information is collected annually on total face to face contacts with chiropody services, the numbers of new episodes of care in the year are contained in the statistical report "Chiropody services, summary information for 2000–01, England". A copy of the report is in the Library and it is also available on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/public/kt230001. The previous five years of this data are also available in the Library.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS chiropody/podiatry provision of the publication of (a) the NHS policy on older people and (b) the guidelines for the NSF for diabetes.

Jacqui Smith: The national service framework for older people was published on 27 March 2001. It sets new national standards and service models of care across health and social services for all older people whether they live at home, in residential care or are being cared for in hospital. The NSF recognises the role of chiropody/ podiatry services in that:
	chiropody/podiatry is a service which is important to older people as it assists in maintaining mobility and independence. There is concern that ageism/age discrimination may take the form of low overall levels of provision to this care group.
	specialised falls services which are established should include chiropodists/podiatrists.
	specialist mental health services for older people should have agreed working and referral arrangements with chiropodists and podiatrists. and it sets a performance measure for numbers/rates of people aged 75+ who access chiropody/podiatry services.
	We published standards for the diabetes NSF in December 2001. The delivery strategy will follow in summer 2002, with the 10-year implementation programme to begin in April 2003. Milestones for delivery, including workforce, will be based on the available resources. The strategy will be informed by the work of the long-term conditions care group workforce team, which will be taking a national view of the workforce implications of the standards and intervention. The workforce team has a podiatrist in its membership to ensure consideration of chiropody/podiatry requirements and contribute to these care groups.
	Podiatrists have been members of the external reference groups for both these NSFs.

Foot Health Care

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has of (a) local and (b) regional variations in the provision of NHS chiropody or podiatry treatment.

Jacqui Smith: We acknowledge that there are local and regional variations in national health service chiropody/podiatry services. For example, we know from data collected that trusts have different staffing structures and employ different numbers of staff.
	These variations may result from NHS organisations having to clinically prioritise the services they provide to meet local demand for chiropody/podiatry services. Although local demographics may affect service provision levels, for example high level older people population, many services are prioritising for those most at risk such as older people, children, pregnant women, people with diabetes and those with learning disabilities.

Long-term Care

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the additional cost of implementing the recommendations of the royal commission on long-term care in full.

Jacqui Smith: In the NHS Plan we announced new investment in intermediate care and associated services rising to £900 million a year by 2003–04. In addition, we shall be targeting additional resources, rising to £360 million a year by 2003–04, to tackle the anomalies and inequities of the present funding system for long-term care. These include free nursing care in nursing homes for current self-funders which was introduced from October 2001. This will benefit around 42,000 people by around £5,000 p.a. A system of deferred payments has been introduced to avoid people having to sell their homes when they first enter residential care. Since April last year, the value of a property has been disregarded for 12 weeks when undertaking the residential care means test. In addition, the Government have established a new independent national body, the National Care Standards Commission, which will regulate social care services, and private and voluntary healthcare from April 2002.
	The Government do not accept the royal commission's recommendation that all personal care should be provided free of charge. It would cost more than £1 billion a year to make all forms of personal care free. Spending money in this way would not help improve the quality and range of services for users of long-term care nor would it help achieve stability for providers, which are our priorities.

Care Standards

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what means he will monitor and support the application of the national minimum standards and regulations as set out in the Care Standards Act 2000.

Jacqui Smith: The application of the national minimum standards and regulations by registered care providers will be monitored by the National Care Standards Commission. The commission will also have a general duty to encourage improvements in the quality of registered services and will be able to suggest ways in which services can be improved. If any regulations or standards are not complied with on inspection, the commission will agree an action plan and timescale with the provider to achieve compliance. Generally, the commission will work with providers over time to meet the standards.
	The commission is accountable to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and its own performance as an executive non-departmental public body will be monitored by the Department in accordance with the management statement and financial memorandum, which has been placed in the Library.

Care Standards

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will issue guidance to registered care services on the operation of the national minimum standards and regulations and the National Care Standards Commission.

Jacqui Smith: Guidance for registered care providers about the National Care Standards Commission and containing information about the registration process will be issued shortly.

Autism

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's most recent assessment of the causes of autism.

Jacqui Smith: The Medical Research Council (MRC) published the report of its detailed review of the epidemiology and causes of autism on 13 December 2001. The report, commissioned by the Department in March 2001, provides a clear, authoritative picture of what scientific research has revealed about the occurrence and causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The report accepts that autism is not as rare as previously thought but notes that the apparent increase in prevalence of ASDs is likely to have resulted from better diagnosis and clearer definition as well as increased awareness and makes recommendations on the future research strategy for the United Kingdom.
	The MRC report identifies a strong genetic component in the causation of autism, while acknowledging that most researchers believe autism has a variety of causes, including possible interactions with environmental factors.
	We announced on 14 February that the Government have allocated a further £2.5 million for research into autism. The funds are being given to the MRC to help them to take forward recommendations on research contained in their report on the epidemiology and causes of autism referred to above.

Coronary Heart Disease

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of the recommendations on physical activity contained in the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Health Development Agency has recently completed a review of the progress on local programmes of effective policies on increasing physical activity, as required by standard one of the National Service Framework (NSF) for coronary heart disease. The report found programmes at varying levels of development. In light of these findings, the Department has commissioned the agency to develop guidance that will help primary care teams to design effective policies and strategies on physical activity, healthy eating, obesity and tobacco control. It will support the NSF for coronary heart disease, older people and diabetes, and the NHS Plan and Cancer Plan. The guidance will be published later this year.

Hearing Aids

Valerie Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS trusts are fully implementing NICE guidance on hearing aid technology published in July 2000.

Jacqui Smith: The Commission for Health Improvement incorporates the monitoring of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance in its clinical governance reviews. This is to ensure that national health service trusts have mechanisms in place to implement and comply with all NICE guidance.

Hearing Aids

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts will receive new funding for digital hearing aids.

Jacqui Smith: We invited expressions of interest by 1 March 2002 from all health communities not yet involved in the modernising hearing aid services project. We will make decisions shortly about which sites will be included.

Waiting Lists

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 25 January 2002, Official Report, column 1121W, on waiting lists, when the results of the regional office reviews of the listed trusts will be (a) completed and (b) published.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 February 2002
	Evaluation of all 13 trusts named in the NAO report "Inappropriate adjustments to NHS waiting lists" is still to be completed by regional offices. We expect these evaluations to be completed soon.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 21 January regarding midwives, ref P0003279.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 28 February 2002
	A reply was sent out on 5 March 2002.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will provide a substantive reply to the letter of 7 January from the hon. Member for Totnes, enclosing one from Ms Janet Cross of Kingsbridge, Devon on the Royal Commission report on Long Term Care, which was acknowledged by his Ministerial Correspondence Unit on 11 January.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 4 March 2002
	A reply was sent on 6 March.

Surgery

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of operations were cancelled for non-clinical reasons as a proportion of admissions in Hull and the East Riding in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The number of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons and the and percentage of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons as a proportion of admissions in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust in each year since 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Cancelled operations Total admissions Percentage 
		
		
			 1998–99 327 110,114 0.29 
			 1999–2000 382 111,039 0.34 
			 2000–01 323 109,739 0.29

Surgery

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients died within 30 days of surgery in Hull and the East Riding in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The number of patients who died within 30 days of surgery in Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust in each year since 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		Total deaths within 30 days of surgery
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998–99 407 
			 1999–2000 390 
			 2000–01 325

Hospital Readmissions

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were readmitted to hospital as emergency cases soon after being discharged in Hull and the East Riding between 1997 and 2001.

Jacqui Smith: The number of patients re-admitted to hospital as emergency cases soon after being discharged by the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust between 1997 and 2001 is shown in the table.
	
		Emergency readmissions
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998–99 7,022 
			 1999–2000 7,137 
			 2000–01 7,215

Funeral Arrangements

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 969W, on funeral arrangements, what measures have been taken since 27 October 1997 to (a) ensure and (b) monitor compliance with the guidelines on burial in unmarked graves issued to NHS trusts on that date.

Hazel Blears: Since October 1997 NHS Trusts have had explicit guidance that where patients die in NHS hospitals and have a burial arranged by the Trust, the burial plot should be marked by a permanent memorial or marker. Trusts were further reminded of this requirement in April 2001 subsequent to the publication of the report into the Alder Hey Inquiry.
	Compliance with the guidance is not monitored centrally, but if concerns were brought to the attention of the Department of Health they would be investigated.

Mixed-sex Wards

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what criteria he will decide when he has met his pledge to end the existence of mixed-sex wards.

Hazel Blears: Guidance on maintaining privacy and dignity was first issued to the service in 1997 and since then trusts have been working towards clear targets to eliminate mixed sex accommodation in 95 per cent. of NHS trusts by December 2002.
	There are three targets that trusts are working towards. These are:
	Ensuring that appropriate organisational arrangements are in place to secure good standards of privacy and dignity for hospital patients;
	Achieving fully the Patient's Charter standard for segregated washing and toilet facilities across the NHS;
	Providing safe facilities for patients in hospital who are mentally ill which safeguard their privacy and dignity.

NHS Activity Levels

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the activity levels were in the quarter to (a) December 2000 and (b) December 2001 for (i) new attendances at accident and emergency departments, (ii) first out-patient attendances, (iii) general and acute elective hospital spells and (iv) general and acute non-elective spells.

John Hutton: The activity levels for quarter to (a) December 2000 and (b) December 2001 for (i) new attendances at accident and emergency departments, (ii) first out-patient attendances, (iii) general and acute elective hospital spells and (iv) general and acute non-elective spells are provided in the table.
	
		Attendance and hospital spells in England -- Thousand
		
			   October to December  
			   2000 2001 
		
		
			 Accident and emergency first attendances 3,181 3,229 
			 General and acute out-patient first attendances 2,844 2,902 
			
			 Hospital spells   
			 General and acute:   
			 Total 2,342 2,346 
			 Elective 1,341 1,338 
			 Non elective 1,000 1,007 
		
	
	All estimates are derived from the Department quarterly management information system. Figures for 2000–01 have been adjusted to take account of definitional changes between 2000–01 and 2001–02 to allow direct comparison with 2001–02 figures.
	The estimates relate to activity commissioned using national health service funds by health authorities in England. This includes activity in private hospitals and NHS hospitals outside England, but excludes private patients and patients from outside England treated in English NHS Hospitals. Some activity for the latter may be included through host commissioner services (eg accident and emergency and genito urinary medicine).
	Management data have been used rather than Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data because HES data are not yet available for December 2001–02.

Children Act

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to review the regulations and guidance associated with the Children Act 1989 following the Utting report.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 25 February 2002, Official Report, at column 973W.

NHS Mortuaries

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the combined capacity of designated, permanent mortuaries in the national health service was in each of the past five years.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.

Health Inequalities

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from organisations in east London on her Department's cross-cutting review on health inequalities.

Yvette Cooper: Representations on a range of issues were received from both local and national organisations based in east London in response to the Department's document "Tackling Health Inequalities: Consultation on a Plan for Delivery", including Barts and London NHS Trust, East London and City HA, and Cancer Black Care. These representations along with feedback from regional workshops, including one in London, are informing the cross-cutting Spending Review on health inequalities.

Bioterrorism

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to update advice to NHS personnel on how to identify the effects of (a) anthrax, (b) smallpox and (c) sarin; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Department issued guidance on 17 October 2001 to all health authorities and regional directors of public health on the procedures to be followed in the event of a deliberate release of chemicals such as sarin and of biological agents such as anthrax and smallpox. At the same time, guidance for medical and laboratory staff was issued by the public health laboratory service on 17 October 2001 and is subject to continuous updating e.g. clinical evaluation and management of persons with possible inhalation anthrax was last updated on 2 January 2002.

NHS Security

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to improve security in (a) hospitals, (b) clinics and (c) GP surgeries; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Security is the responsibility of the individual national health service trust.
	All hospital, clinic and GP premises have different site and building constraints depending on location. The problems for inner city trusts are significantly different from those in rural areas.
	Security is an important issue in the health service as it contributes to a safe working environment for staff, patients and visitors.
	Guidance on security is provided for designers and users through Health Building Notes, the NHS Security Manual and individual specialist documents including Effective Management of Security in A&E Departments, and Safe and Sound (for maternity units). The revised NHS Security Manual will be published in May 2002.
	Security is achieved through the use of security staff (either in-house or private contractors) and supported by various electronic security systems, including CCTV, personal attack alarm systems and door entry control.

Care Homes

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private sector residential care homes for the elderly there were in 2000; and what forecast he has made of the number from April 2002.

Jacqui Smith: The table shows the number of private residential care homes in 2000 and 2001, at 31 March of each year. Forecasts of the future number of homes are not available.
	
		Number(8) of private residential care homes for older people(9) in England as at 31 March
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 2000 12,050 
			 2001 11,480 
		
	
	(8) Rounded numbers
	(9) Includes homes for older people who are mentally infirm.
	Source:
	Department of Health's annual returns.

Care Homes

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential care homes closed in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not centrally available.

GP Appointments

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP practices have achieved the NHS Plan target for patients to see their GP within 24 hours in (a) Leeds LS28, (b) Pudsey constituency, (c) each of the Leeds primary care groups, (d) West Yorkshire and (e) the UK.

John Hutton: Patient surveys identify ready access to primary care as a key issue and the NHS Plan sets a target that by 2004 all patients will be able to see a primary care professional within 24 hours or a GP within 48 hours if they choose to do so. From September 2001 we have been using quarterly telephone surveys of GP practices to monitor progress towards delivery of this target. The results of these surveys indicate that on a national basis the interim milestone for March 2002 of 60 per cent. compliance will be achieved. Detailed and reliable data are not available in all the formats requested, but surveys to date do also suggest that the milestone will be achieved within the Leeds health area.
	Further progress towards the target will be supported in 2002–03 by an earmarked increase of £83.5 million in the PCT Primary Care Access Fund to £168 million and by expanding the capacity of the National Primary Care Development Team.

Vulnerable Adults (Guidance)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many local authorities (a) have fully compliant policies and procedures, (b) have draft policies and procedures and (c) are not compliant with the protection of vulnerable adults guidance, "No Secrets", LAC(2000)7;
	(2)  if he will set out for each relevant year and each local authority the level of financial support (a) specific and special grants and (b) SSA provided by his Department to implement the "No Secrets" guidance LAC(2000)7;
	(3)  what plans his Department has to review the implementation of the "No Secrets" guidance;
	(4)  how many local authorities met the deadline set out in SSI circular CI(2001) 9 June 2001;
	(5)  how much each local authority responsible for implementing the "No Secrets" guidance LAC(2000)7 budgeted to spend in 2001–02; and what the actual and budgeted spend was in each of the last three years;
	(6)  what arrangements (a) his Department and (b) local authorities have made to publicise (i) the "No Secrets" guidance and (b) the reporting and referral system established in line with the guidance LAC(2000)7.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 4 March 2002
	The guidance "No Secrets" reinforces existing good practice with respect to adult protection. Information on the local costs of implementation is not held centrally.
	72 local councils submitted their local multi-agency codes of practice to the Department of Health by the 31 October 2001 deadline. A further 48 codes of practice have been received since, and the remainder are being actively pursued. These codes of practice are being analysed for their content and compliance with "No Secrets". The analysis will also determine the number of codes of practice that were fully implemented by 31 October 2001.
	The Department has no immediate plans for a formal review of the implementation of the "No Secrets" guidance but the matter will be considered when the findings of the analysis of local codes of practice are available.
	The Department publicised the "No Secrets" guidance through a series of six, one-day workshops in Leeds and London, from November 2000 through to March 2001. The workshops encouraged representatives from all statutory agencies to discuss issues such as reporting and referral systems for inter-agency working. A number of local councils have publicised the launch of their multi-agency codes of practice. "No Secrets" requires local councils to develop local reporting and referral systems for inter-agency working in their codes of practice.

Food Safety

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the funding of research into food safety.

Yvette Cooper: Many factors affect the safety of food including chemical, radiological and microbiological contamination. Nutrition and other issues may also affect whether an individual is following a safe diet. Research on food safety is therefore correspondingly diverse both in the nature of the research and its funding. Direct Government funding of the research is through the research councils and the Food Standards Agency while other funds are also available through the academic funding system. In addition, the food industry itself funds food safety research either directly or through industrial levies or in LINK schemes with, for example, DEFRA.

Private Treatment

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients at Weston General Hospital have been treated by the private sector over the past five years; what the nature of the treatment was; and what the total cost of these treatments was.

John Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health Expenditure

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for (a) England and (b) the Avon health authority the expenditure on health per head of the population, expressed in real terms, for each year since 1999.

John Hutton: The expenditure on health by weighted head of population in real terms for Avon health authority area and England for each year since 1999 is shown in the table.
	
		Expenditure by health authorities and primary care trusts -- £
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 Avon health authority 747.51 810.53 
			 England 734.19 770.91 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Expenditure is taken from health authority and primary care trust summarisation forms which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year.
	2. Allocations per weighted head of population provide a much more reliable measure to identify differences between funding of health authorities.
	3. The expenditure is the total spent on commissioning healthcare by the health authority and by the primary care trusts within each health authority area. The majority of General Dental Services expenditure is not included in the health authority or primary care trust accounts and is separately accounted for by the Dental Practice Board. An element of drugs expenditure in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 is accounted for by the Prescription Pricing Authority and not by health authorities.
	4. Health authorities and primary care trusts should account for their expenditure on a gross basis. This results in an element of double counting in 2000–01 where one body acts as the main commissioner and is then reimbursed by other bodies. The effect of this double counting within the answer cannot be identified.
	5. Some health authorities act as lead commissioners for particular specialties which inflates their figures when compared with others and also causes differences between years. Other factors may also distort the figures so the results are therefore not all directly comparable with each other and with answers to similar questions for previous years.
	Source:
	Health authority audited summarisation forms 1999–2000 and 2000–01
	Primary care trust audited summarisation schedules 2000–01
	Weighted population estimates for 1999–2000 and 2000–01
	GDP deflator at market prices with 2000–01 as the base year

Day Surgery Patients

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to increase the proportion of day surgery patients being treated in (a) cottage hospitals and (b) GP surgeries.

John Hutton: Professor Ara Darzi has been asked to advise on how day surgery rates can be increased across the national health service as part of his appointment to advise the Department of Health on surgical issues.
	The recent Audit Commission report on day surgery showed that in some trusts minor procedures are often treated in day surgery units while they could be carried out in treatment rooms or out-patient departments. This leads to surgery patients having to wait longer for their operations or having them as in-patients. As part of the day surgery strategy, Professor Darzi will be looking to ensure that day case procedures are undertaken in day surgery units.
	General practitioners already carry out minor procedures in their surgeries, but there is the potential for more to be undertaken. Providing these services in the community gives patients better access to treatment, and reduces the time they would have to wait for the procedure. For these reasons the NHS plan provides that by 2004 there will be up to 1,000 specialist GPs taking referrals from fellow GPs for conditions in certain specialties, such as ophthalmology and dermatology. The Department is working with the Royal College of General Practitioners in developing this initiative.

Asbestos

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he estimates the cost to the NHS will be of the proposed new Health and Safety Executive regulations on asbestos.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 1 March 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	Total costs for the removal of asbestos from NHS hospitals and among all other health care facilities excluding hospitals are shown in the table. These figures have been revised upwards since publication of the consultative document, and include costs arising from the provisions implementing the chemical agents directive.
	
		Costs in NHS hospitals and all other health care establishments -- £ million
		
			 Sector Costs over 50 years (not discounted) Yearly costs averaged over the first 5 years 
		
		
			 Hospitals (NHS) 36 4 
			 Other health care (all) 31 4 
			  
			 Total 67 8

Asbestos

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has evaluated that white asbestos is more dangerous than asbestos substitutes.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 1 March 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	The Institute for Environment and Health undertook a study for the Health and Safety Executive in 1998. Copies of the report "Chrysotile and its substitutes: a critical evaluation" is available in the Libraries of both Houses.
	The report stated that white asbestos at high enough exposures could cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. It also confirmed that this type was often contaminated with other higher risk types such as blue brown asbestos. It judged three substitutes to be less harmful, polyvinyl alcohol, aramid and cellulose. The report recognised that exposure to white asbestos will arise from asbestos-containing materials in buildings. While it indicated that exposure would be lower than in manufacturing, it was a persistent problem that would remain for many years to come. It therefore recommended wherever practicable the safer substitutes should be used.

Comparative Health Outcomes

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the differences in (a) health outcomes and (b) the effectiveness of health services between England and other developed countries; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 31 October 2001
	I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2000, Official Report, column 192W.
	Making comparisons between health services in different countries on a like-for-like basis is not straightforward and truly comparable data are often unavailable. However, "The NHS Plan", published last year, contains some assessment of the differences between the United Kingdom and health services in other developed countries.
	This assessment contributed to the programme as set out in "The NHS Plan". The national health service will continue to improve in effectiveness and efficiency as the plan is implemented.
	We have promised the following extra resources to help improve NHS services:
	7,000 extra beds in hospitals and intermediate care
	over 100 new hospitals by 2010 and 500 new one-stop primary care centres
	over 3,000 general practitioner premises modernised and 250 new scanners
	clean wards—overseen by "modern matrons"—and better hospital food
	modern information technology systems in every hospital and GP surgery and investment in staff:
	7,500 more consultants and 2,000 more GPs
	20,000 extra nurses and 6,500 extra therapists
	1,000 more medical school places
	Child care support for NHS staff with 100 on-site nurseries.
	In addition to extra resources it is essential that investment is accompanied by reform.
	The Department is setting national standards, matched by regular inspection of all local health bodies by the Commission for Health Improvement.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence will ensure that cost effective drugs like those for cancer are not dependent on where you live. The NHS Modernisation Agency has been set up to spread best practice.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Mayoral Referendums

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the Government's response is to the Electoral Commission's report on its review of mayoral referendums; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: We welcome the report "Reinvigorating Democracy? Mayoral Referendums in 2001" which the Electoral Commission published on 1 February 2002. We said in the recent Local Government White Paper, "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services" that we would learn from the lessons of the first round of mayoral referendums, in order to refine and improve the process. The Electoral Commission's report is an important contribution to that work.
	The Government share the Commission's view of the importance of electors understanding fully what they are voting on and having unbiased, factual information on the issues surrounding the introduction of executive arrangements involving a directly-elected mayor.
	It was following the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life that we made provision in the Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (England) Regulations 2001, which were approved by Parliament, to prohibit councils from undertaking proactive information campaigns within 28 days of a referendum. We note the Commission's conclusion that this may be preventing full information reaching electors on the issues, in the circumstances of mayoral referendums where often there are no well- defined "yes" or "no" campaign groups.
	Accordingly we will be reviewing with the Electoral Commission and others, whether this prohibition should be relaxed. Any relaxation would need to include safeguards to maintain strict impartiality. The Electoral Commission has suggested that the text of such material be cleared with them in advance. We welcome that the Electoral Commission are considering how they might provide electors in authorities holding mayoral referendums with factual and impartial material, pending the outcome of the review of the 28-day prohibition.
	We believe that the involvement by the Electoral Commission will meet the concerns of some, which were noted in the Commission's report, that the current wording of the referendum question, that Parliament had approved, could not be relied upon to guarantee a result which fairly and accurately reflected local electors' views. Accordingly we see no grounds for Government intervention to seek to postpone any referendum that local authorities are, or will be, planning to hold, including those as a result of a petition by electors.
	We believe that the current question specified in regulations, developed following extensive consultation, is fair and clear. Nevertheless, we are pleased to accept the Electoral Commission's invitation to work with them to see if the text of the referendum question itself can be improved so that all will be satisfied that it is clear and free from any potential bias. We recognise that while we are actively working with the Commission on possible changes to the question and the rules on the provision of information, it may be perceived as wrong for Government to take any decision on whether or not to direct the holding of a referendum. We do not therefore intend to take any more decisions until after we have completed this work. We expect to complete the work by summer 2002.
	We had indicated that the Secretary of State was minded to direct mayoral referendums in Bradford and Birmingham on the grounds that councils in these areas have not had due regard to the outcome of the consultation they have been required to carry out. The Secretary of State remains so minded but has decided to await the outcome of our further work with the Commission before coming to final decisions on whether or not to use his powers of direction in these cases. My Department is writing to these councils setting out in full our position on directing them to hold a referendum, in the light of the representation we have received.
	We also welcome the other suggestions the Electoral Commission makes for councils to improve how referendums are run. My Department will help promulgate these suggestions to councils through the regular contacts it holds with authorities holding mayoral ballots.
	In short, the Commission's report is an important contribution to our refining and improving the process of mayoral elections which are at the heart of our policy that people should be able to choose how they are governed locally.

Affordable Housing

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many affordable housing units in (a) rural districts and (b) extreme rural districts in England have (i) been sold under right to buy and (ii) been newly built, showing for each district the net change, in each year since 1991 to 2001.

Sally Keeble: The information requested is presented in a summary table which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average response time was for responding to departmental correspondence; what percentage of letters took longer than one month for a response; and what percentage took longer than three months for a response in each of the last five years.

Alan Whitehead: The available information, relating to DTLR and its predecessor, is as follows:
	
		Ministerial correspondence (including MPs' correspondence, invitations and inter-departmental correspondence)
		
			  Number of letters received Replies within 15-day target (%) Replies within 20-day target (%) Replies that took longer than one month after the 15-day target (%) Replies that took longer than three months after the 15-day target (%) 
		
		
			 1997 (DETR) 38,059 51 (10)— (10)— (10)— 
			 1998 (DETR) 31,798 58 (10)— (10)— (10)— 
			 1999 (DETR)(11) 26,115 46 64 13 4 
			 2000 (DETR) 31,445 69 81 7 2 
			 2001 (DETR/DTLR)(12) 25,613 82 90 4 1 
		
	
	(10) Not available.
	(11) This relates only to the period from April to December 1999 as the information for the first quarter is not available due to technical difficulties.
	(12) For 2001 the figures include correspondence addressed to DETR up until the general election and thereafter to DTLR.
	
		Non-ministerial correspondence -- (from previous "Six Service Standards" reports)
		
			 Period Total volume received Percentage replied to within 15 working days 
		
		
			 1 April 1997—31 March 1998 672,980 96 
			 1 April 1998—31 March 1999 546,385 94 
			 1 April 1999—31 March 2000 804,404 95 
			 1 April 2000—31 March 2001 1,161,736 97 
			 1 April 2001—31 December 2001 472,083 99

Catering Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by his Department in each of the last four years.

Alan Whitehead: The figures are for DTLR(C) HQ buildings.
	1998–99—in-house canteen and other catering figures are not available.
	1999–2000—in-house canteen £116,613 and other catering services £355,015.
	2000–01—in-house canteen £88,547 and other catering services £396,488.
	2001–02—in-house canteen £49,021 and other catering services £549,842.

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on which date the contracts tendered by bidders Metronet and Tube Lines wishing to enter into a public private partnership with London Underground Ltd. were first received by (a) his Department, (b) the Treasury, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) London Underground Ltd., (e) the Mayor of London and Transport for London and (f) the Health and Safety Executive.

David Jamieson: London Underground is responsible for the development of PPP contracts for the modernisation of the Underground's infrastructure. Draft contracts were issued with invitations to tender in October 1999 and have since been revised and updated to reflect changes to London Underground's requirements, negotiations with bidders and consultation with the Mayor and Transport for London.
	Throughout the process, revisions of the draft PPP contracts have been shared with DTLR, HM Treasury, the Health and Safety Executive and, since they were established, the Mayor and Transport for London. Ernst and Young were contracted to provide independent advice to the Secretary of State in October 2001. They received the draft contract the same month and were updated as it developed.

Humber Bridge

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W on the Humber Bridge, what the total cost is of the essential maintenance work; what the nature of the work is; and when it will be completed.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 February 2002
	The essential maintenance work referred to in my answer of 25 February is resurfacing of the carriageway at the Humber Bridge, estimated total cost of £7.36 million. The work is due to be completed in October 2002.

Humber Bridge

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W on the Humber Bridge, under what authority capital repayments between 2000 and 2002 were waived.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 February 2002
	Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959 as amended by Section 8 of the Humber Bridge Act 1971 states that the Humber Bridge Board shall apply revenues of the Board in the following manner:
	"first in payment of the working and establishment expenses and cost of maintenance of the undertaking;
	secondly in payment of the interest on moneys advanced by the Secretary of State by way of loan under the provisions of the Humber Bridge Act 1971 and moneys borrowed by the Board under any statutory borrowing power in proportion to the respective amounts borrowed by the Board from the Secretary of State and other than from the Secretary of State as aforesaid;
	thirdly, subject to all interest as aforesaid having been paid in any year in making provision for repayment of moneys borrowed by the Board under any statutory borrowing in proportion to the respective amounts borrowed by the Board from the Secretary of State and other than from the Secretary of State as aforesaid."
	It is our view that the above clearly gives authority to the Humber Bridge Board to defer interest and capital repayments to concentrate revenue for essential maintenance work.

Humber Bridge

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W, ref 34782, on the Humber Bridge, when the decision was taken to waive capital repayments between 2000 and 2002; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 February 2002
	The Humber Bridge Board took the decision (in accordance with Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959 as amended by the Humber Bridge Act 1971) to concentrate revenue for essential maintenance work and not to make capital repayments in 2000–01 and 2001–02.
	This decision to not make capital repayments for the years mentioned was recognised by paragraph 4 of the Schedule to the Humber Bridge (Debts) Order 1998, whereby interest not exceeding £1.4 million in 2000–01 and not exceeding £200,000 (being in each case interest that cannot be paid by applying the revenues of the Humber Bridge Board in accordance with Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959) ceased to be payable.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total public investment support is to (a) Phase 1 and (b) Phase 2 of CTRL; and in what years it (i) has been and (ii) will be allocated.

David Jamieson: The level of Government investment in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) remains the same as set out in the Development Agreement with London and Continental in 1996.
	The Government are providing grants totalling £778.1 million towards construction costs for section 1 of the CTRL and £1,774.2 million towards construction costs for section 2. These values are in January 1997 prices and are corrected to current values using the Retail Prices Index.
	In both cases the grant will only be paid when expenditure has exceeded 68 per cent. of the target cost for the relevant section. The grants are then made in eight consecutive three-monthly payments provided that a specified construction milestone has been achieved.
	Expenditure on section 1 exceeded the 68 per cent. point in September 2001 and the relevant milestone had by then been achieved. Therefore the first payment was made on 15 November 2001. The second and third milestones have also been achieved and the second payment was made on 15 February 2002.
	Assuming that these conditions continue to be met according to the project plan, the grants will be paid as follows:
	
		
			   In current values (£)  
			  Section 1 Section 2 
		
		
			 2001–02 221.91 — 
			 2002–03 458.61 — 
			 2003–04 234.44 — 
			 2004–05 — 280.43 
			 2005–06 — 1,142.68 
			 2006–07 — 879.45

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions with the Scottish Executive have taken place concerning the restrictions of rail freight through the Channel tunnel that began on 7 November 2001 and its impact on Scotland; when such discussions took place; who took part; what the outcome was; and if he will place a copy of the minutes in the Library.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 February 2002
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have regular discussions with the Scottish Executive concerning a variety of issues. The content of these discussions is confidential.
	The Government are aware of, and have passed on, the particular concerns over the impact of restrictions on international rail freight services from Scotland. The Government are pressing the French Government at the highest levels to provide adequate policing resources at Fréthun to support the anti-intrusion measures already being installed by SNCF in order to address the disruption to Channel tunnel services caused by would-be illegal immigrants.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has written twice to the French Prime Minister, and also spoke to him at a recent summit in Stockholm. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions have followed up the Prime Minister's letters with the French Interior Minister and Transport Minister respectively.

Rail Engineering

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with colleagues at DfES to encourage a higher academic status for rail engineering and rail engineers.

John Spellar: holding answer 1 March 2002
	The Minister for adult skills and I jointly hosted a transport skills seminar on 14 February as part of the continuing commitment of Government to promote better training and skills development to support delivery of the 10-Year Transport Plan.

Severn Bridge

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  if he will make a statement about the reasons for the closure of the Severn Bridge on (a) 12 February and (b) 27 February; and what the recorded wind speeds were on each occasion;
	(2)  if he will list the dates on which the Severn Bridge has been closed in the past four weeks; and the reasons for the closure in each case.

David Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 7 March 2002
	I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about recent closures of the Severn Bridge.
	In the last 4 weeks, the Severn Bridge was closed on the following dates:
	
		
			  Closed  Re-opened Reason for closure 
		
		
			 February 1 (10.00 hrs) February 2 (13.45 hrs) High winds 
			 February 4 (12.00 hrs) February 6 (01.00 hrs) High winds 
			 February 11 (15.30 hrs) February 12 (10.45 hrs) High winds 
			 February 19 (20.00 hrs) February 20 (19.30 hrs) High winds 
			 February 26 (01.00 hrs) February 27 (12.15 hrs) High winds 
		
	
	Severn Bridge is closed by the Police when they are concerned about high winds affecting vehicles. You will see that the closures on 12 and 27 February had been imposed, in each case, the day before because of high wind speeds. The maximum recorded wind speed on 12 February was 41 knots and, on 27 February, 49 knots.

Strategic Rail Plan

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the publication of the final directions and guidance to the Strategic Rail Authority will affect (a) the timetable and (b) progress towards implementation of the Strategic Plan published on 14 January; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: No, the timetable and implementation will not be affected.

Strategic Rail Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of the uncommitted public sector investment in transport under the 10-Year Plan is intended to enable the leveraging in of private sector investment.

David Jamieson: Of the original £8.9 billion of unallocated public sector investment in our 10-Year Plan for Transport, £2.3 billion has been allocated to the railways, Official Report, 29 January 2002, column 175W. This £2.3 billion will be used to help deliver our 10-Year Plan objectives for rail in partnership with the private sector.
	Of the remaining unallocated public sector investment, we will consider to what uses this investment will be put in our forthcoming Review of the Plan and the extent to which this may leverage in private sector investment.

Rail Passengers

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 12 February 2002, Official Report, column 220W, on rail passengers, for what reason growth in Eurostar passenger and revenues is expected to continue.

David Jamieson: Economic growth is the main cause of long term growth in Eurostar passenger demand and revenues. Eurostar will also benefit from the completion of Sections 1 and 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which will allow Eurostar to reduce journey times, improve reliability and increase the frequency of services.

Rail Network

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  if the Strategic Rail Authority has provided (a) his Department and (b) the Treasury with an estimate of the total renewal cost of the UK rail network;
	(2)  if his Department has made an assessment of the total renewal cost of the UK rail network; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of how much is required fully to renew the United Kingdom rail network;
	(4)  if his Department has provided information to the Treasury to enable it to carry out an estimation of the total renewal cost of the UK rail network;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the ratio between the total renewal cost of the UK rail network and the average annual amount allocated for renewals under the 10-Year Plan.

David Jamieson: The appropriate level of renewals is a matter for the Rail Regulator and for bidders for Railtrack Plc. Bidders are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the investment needs of the rail network, to develop plans to improve the knowledge of the state of the rail network and to propose their renewal investment plans.

Local Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what level of population growth in each of the Government's regions is being used to plan local government functions in the next (a) five years, (b) 10 years and (c) 20 years.

Alan Whitehead: Estimates of the population change by Government Office region are available, but the Department does not hold centrally information on the extent to which these estimates are used by Government Departments. The estimates are given in the report by the Office for National Statistics entitled "1996-based Subnational Population Projections—England" (series pp3 no. 10). The table provides the overall summary.
	
		Table 1.1 Population of England by Government Office region for selected years
		
			  Area population (thousand) Percentage change  
			  1996(13) 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 1996–2001 1996–2006 1996–2011 1996–2016 1996–2021 
		
		
			 England 49,089.1 49,871.1 50,526.3 51,161.2 51.831.9 52,483.9 1.6 2.9 4.2 5.6 6.9 
			 North-east 2,600.5 2,579.3 2,555.1 2,535.9 2,521.4 2,509.1 -0.8 -1.7 -2.5 -3.0 -3.5 
			 North-west 5,470.8 5,485.0 5,490.1 5,497.3 5,513.7 5,529.7 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 1.1 
			 Merseyside 1,420.4 1,385.5 1,352.5 1,323.1 1,298.9 1,277.9 -2.5 -4.8 -6.9 -8.6 -10.0 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 5,035.5 5,071.1 5,098.2 5,129.6 5,164.7 5,199.6 0.7 1.2 1.9 2.6 3.3 
			 East Midlands 4,141.5 4,234.1 4,311.7 4,383.7 4,455.4 4,523.0 2.2 4.1 5.8 7.6 9.2 
			 West Midlands 5,316.6 5,342.8 5,358.4 5,372.3 5,391.4 5,410.8 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.4 1.8 
			 East 5,292.6 5,448.0 5,581.8 5,702.2 5,823.2 5,940.9 2.9 5.5 7.7 10.0 12.2 
			 London 7,074.3 7.214.8 7,337.3 7,470.0 7,608.5 7,736.2 2.0 3.7 5.6 7.6 9.4 
			 South-east 7,895.3 8,133.8 8,343.7 8,534.0 8,721.9 8,905.0 3.0 5.7 8.1 10.5 12.8 
			 South-west 4,841.5 4,976.6 5,097.5 5,213.0 5,332.8 5,451.7 2.8 5.3 7.7 10.1 12.6 
		
	
	(13) Base

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secreatry of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much his Department has spent on road-safety related matters in each of the last three years.

David Jamieson: In the financial years 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, my Department spent £68 million, £84 million and £97 million respectively on road safety. These figures exclude the Department's internal administration costs. While they include Highways Agency expenditure on specific safety schemes, it is not possible to estimate the cost of the safety benefits inherent in larger projects.

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the ratio between total road safety spending in the United Kingdom and the number of vehicle journeys each year.

David Jamieson: Expenditure on road safety by my Department and by local authorities in England in 1999–2000 totalled £318 million. It is estimated that motor vehicles travelled 398 billion kilometres in England in 1999. This suggests that annual expenditure on road safety is of the order of £8 per 10,000 vehicle kilometres travelled.

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what regulations apply to speed limit indicators painted on the road surface in restricted areas.

David Jamieson: Departmental policy is to authorise carriageway roundels only when used in conjunction with upright repeated signs. Research has shown when used alone roundels have little effect on vehicle speeds and adverse weather conditions can render them invisible.
	Direction 10 of Traffic Signs Regulation and General Directions 1994 states that repeater signs are prohibited on restricted roads. Consequently carriageway roundels are only authorised when used in conjunction with an upright sign at the gateway/terminal of a restricted road.

Road Safety

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent assessment he made of the extent of reporting of road crashes that involve children.

David Jamieson: After a study for my Department in 1996, the Transport Research Laboratory reported that "around half of casualties aged 0–4 and 15–19 and a third of those aged 5–14 were reported but the reporting rate increased to around two-thirds or more for older casualties". The reporting rate also varied with road user group: 56 per cent. for children aged 0–14 who were car occupants but only 12 per cent. for pedal cyclists.
	The main reasons given by casualties interviewed in hospital accident and emergency departments for not reporting an accident were that the accident was too trivial or that no one else was involved.

Light Aircraft Noise

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he plans to limit light aircraft noise.

John Spellar: holding answer 1 March 2002
	All light aircraft issued with a UK Certificate of Airworthiness are required to comply with ICAO Annex 16 international noise certification requirements, which are currently implemented through the Aeroplane Noise Regulations Order 1999. These certification requirements place a maximum decibel limit on the noise level that an aircraft may produce.
	The air transport White Paper, which we plan to publish this year, will cover aircraft noise policy generally including such legislative changes as we conclude may be appropriate in respect of the operational noise controls (including on light aircraft) available to aerodromes and to the Secretary of State.

Writing Paper

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason the Minister for Housing, Planning and Regeneration's official writing paper does not include his correct style and title; and if he will amend it.

Sally Keeble: The Minister's writing paper is headed with his name. He has no plans to amend it.

Rail Journeys (Staff)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it his policy that rail journeys undertaken by staff in his Department should ordinarily be on standard class tickets.

Alan Whitehead: Rail travel is ordinarily undertaken on standard class tickets. However staff in my Department at Band 5 (Senior Executive Officer) and above may choose to travel first class where there is a business need and the extra expense is justified, for example, better to facilitate working during the journey.
	With the exception of a few staff at Band 4 (Higher Executive Officer) who may choose to travel first class, staff below Band 5 may not choose to travel first class except where:
	(a) they are travelling with someone who is travelling first class;
	(b) the facilities provided in standard class do not meet their needs, for example if they are pregnant or suffer from a disability;
	(c) there are no seats available in standard class, or in circumstances when it is necessary to buy a meal on the train and this is not possible when travelling in standard class;
	(d) there is a need to travel overnight and use a sleeping berth.

Health and Safety At Work

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list for each year since 1997 the incidence rate of (a) fatal and (b) major injury accidents at work.

Alan Whitehead: The incidence rate of fatal and of major injuries, reported to HSE and local authorities, 1997–98 to 2000–01 1 is shown in the table:
	
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 (a) Fatal injury rate 
			 Employees 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.9 
			 Self-employed people 1.8 1.9 1.7 2.4 
			 Workers 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.0 
			  
			 (b) Major injury rate 
			 Employees 127.6 121.7 116.6 107.3 
			 Self-employed people 23.3 20.3 19.7 19.0 
			 Workers 113.8 108.8 104.9 96.9 
		
	
	(14) The figures relate to the planning year 1 April to 31 March and those for 2000–01 are provisional.
	Notes:
	1. The incidence rates per 100,000 employees, self-employed and workers have been provided. "Workers" are employees and self-employed combined.
	2. Injuries reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.
	3. Non-fatal injuries are under reported. The Labour Force Survey suggest that, in 1999–2000, employers report about 44 per cent. of injuries that they should report and self-employed people report less than 5 per cent.

Health and Safety At Work

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list for each year since 1997 the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health.

Alan Whitehead: No single source of information is available on the nature and full extent of work-related ill health in Great Britain. The most inclusive and broadly based estimates come from self-reporting surveys of the national population where individuals are asked to report any work related ill health they have suffered in the last 12 months. The latest available estimate of the incidence of new cases of work-related ill health from such a survey is for 1995; some 400,000 cases per year, or an incidence rate of 1,400 per 100,000 workers. An updated estimate, for 2001–02, will be published later this year.
	More recent figures for particular types of work-related ill health are available from alternative are published in Health and Safety Statistics 2000–01, a copy of which is in the Library (and on the internet at http:// www.house.gov.uk/statistics/2001/hsspt2.pdf).

Health and Safety At Work

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many working days were lost per 100,000 workers from (a) work-related injury and (b) ill health in each year since 1997.

Alan Whitehead: The overall number of working days lost, as a result of work-related injury, is obtained every three years through a national survey. The latest figure, covering the financial year 2000–01, is estimated to be 27,900 working days lost per 100,000 workers, while in 1997–98 the figure was 25,800.
	For work-related ill health, the latest available figure is based on a survey of self-reported work-related illness in 1995. The survey estimated that 71,000 working days were lost per 100,000 workers in Great Britain. A more up-to-date estimate, covering 2001–02, will be available later this year.

National Air Traffic Services

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what arrangements were put in place at the time of the NATS PPP to ensure that the income generated by the online services was kept separate from the other services.

David Jamieson: The ring-fencing of NATS' en route services is effected through the air traffic services licence granted under the Transport Act 2000. The Government placed copies of this licence in the Libraries of the House in April 2001.

Capita Group

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by the Department.

Alan Whitehead: The following contracts have been awarded by DTLR to the Capita Group, since 1997:
	
		
			 Description of contract Date  
		
		
			 Assessment Centre Recruitment for Traffic Examiners September 2001 Vehicle Inspectorate 
			 Training courses 2000–02 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 
			 Provision and Maintenance of IT Infrastructure September 1997-August 2004 Driving Standards Agency 
			 Supply of Finance Director on an agency basis March 1998-November 2000 Fire Service College 
			 Direct Marketing Services August 1998-July 1999 Fire Service College 
			 Recruitment Service for DTLR November 2001 DTLR(C) 
			 National Road Traffic Census for 2002–04 January 2002 DTLR(C) 
			 Recruitment Service for DETR(C) October 1998 (contract now completed) DTLR(C) 
			 General Recruitment Services February 1997 (contract now completed) DTLR(C) 
			 Project Management/Consultancy General July 2001 Highways Agency 
			 Engineering Support to Safety Standards and Research Structures and Technical Approvals February 2002–04 Highways Agency 
			 Traffic Monitoring East 2000 August 2001 Highways Agency 
			 HRS Consultancy Services framework February 2001 Highways Agency 
			 A66 Stainburn to Great Clifton Bypass February 2002 Highways Agency 
		
	
	Notes:
	Four contracts were awarded to Cumbrian Contract Services (now part of the Capita Group) by Highways Agency between November 1999 and September 2000.
	20 contracts were awarded to Cumbrian Industrials Ltd. (now part of the Capita Group) by Highways Agency between December 1997 and August 2001.
	The Department's evaluation mechanism for successful delivery of contract is based on value for money, taking into consideration cost, quality and delivery for each individual tender.
	The Department does not as a general rule have clauses in contracts relating to penalty clauses unless there are clear grounds for inclusion, as in the delivery of a construction project where damages could be assessed. No record is kept centrally of instances where these clauses have been invoked.Individual contract values are not quoted to protect commercial confidentiality.

Capita Group

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the contracts awarded by his Department to Capita since 1997, stating (a) start and finish date of contract, (b) value of contract, (c) description of work to be carried out, (d) evaluation mechanism for successful delivery of contract, (e) penalty charges for failure to deliver and (f) if any penalty charges have been incurred; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 4 March 2002
	The following contracts have been awarded by DTLR to the Capita Group, since 1997:
	
		
			 Description of contract Date Department/agency 
		
		
			 Assessment centre recruitment for traffic examiners September 2001 Vehicle Inspectorate 
			 Training courses 2000–02 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 
			 Provision and maintenance of IT infrastructure September 1997 to August 2004 Driving Standards Agency 
			 Supply of Finance Director on an agency basis March 1998 to November 2000 Fire Service College 
			 Direct marketing services August 1998 to July 1999 Fire Service College 
			 Recruitment service for DTLR November 2001 DTLR (C) 
			 National road traffic census for 2002–04 January 2002 DTLR (C) 
			 Recruitment service for DETR (C) (15)October 1998 DTLR (C) 
			 General recruitment services (15)February 1997 DTLR (C) 
			 Project management/consultancy general July 2001 Highways Agency 
			 Engineering support to safety standards and research structures and technical approvals February 2002–04 Highways Agency 
			 Traffic monitoring east 2000 August 2001 Highways Agency 
			 HRS consultancy services framework February 2001 Highways Agency 
			 A66 Stainburn to Gt. Clifton bypass February 2002 Highways Agency 
		
	
	(15) Contract now completed
	Notes:
	1. 4 contracts were awarded to Cumbrian Contract Services (now part of the Capita Group) by Highways Agency between November 1999 and September 2000.
	2. 20 contracts were awarded to Cumbrian Industrials Ltd. (now part of the Capita Group) by Highways Agency between December 1997 and August 2001.
	The Department's evaluation mechanism for successful delivery of a contract is based on value for money, taking into consideration cost, quality and delivery for each individual tender.The Department does not as a general rule have clauses in contracts relating to penalty clauses unless there are clear grounds for inclusion, as in the delivery of a contraction project where damages could be assessed. No record is kept centrally of instances where these clauses have been invoked.
	Individual contract values are not quoted to protect commercial confidentiality.

Air Travel (Deep Vein Thrombosis)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research is being undertaken by the Government into links between deep vein thrombosis and air travel.

David Jamieson: Rather than undertaking its own research into possible links between deep vein thrombosis and air travel, the Government will support the international research project being planned by the World Health Organisation.

Air Travel (Deep Vein Thrombosis)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the reasons why the research into links between deep vein thrombosis and air travel announced by the World Health Organisation in August 2001 has not yet begun; and what representations the Government made to the World Health Organisation as to beginning the research.

David Jamieson: Members of the Aviation Health Working Group, which includes this Department, met representatives of the Scientific Committee responsible for the proposed WHO project on 26 February to discuss the timing of the study. Details of the various research protocols have now been agreed and it is planned to begin the work on 1 April 2002, subject to sufficient funding being in place.

Local Government Finance

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of local government expenditure has been met by (a) Government grant, (b) business rates and (c) council tax in each of the last five years.

Alan Whitehead: English local authorities have reported the following funding of revenue expenditure:
	
		
			  Revenue expenditure(16)  Government grant(17)  Non-domestic rates(18)  Council tax(19)  
			  £ billion £ billion Per cent. £ billion Per cent. £ billion Per cent. 
		
		
			 1997–98 47.256 23.840 50 12.034 25 11.241 24 
			 1998–99 50.189 25.291 50 12.531 25 12.332 24 
			 1999–2000 53.651 26.421 49 13.619 25 13.278 25 
			 2000–01 57.324 27.784 48 15.406 27 14.200 25 
			 2001–02(20) 61.270 30.341 50 15.144 25 15.245 25 
		
	
	(16) "Revenue expenditure to compare with TSS" i.e. expenditure financed from Revenue Support Grant, specific and special grants within AEF, non-domestic rates, council taxes and balances. Also includes spending met by SSA Reduction Grant, Police Grant, Central Support Protection Grant (1999–2000 onwards) and General Greater London Authority Grant (2000–01 onwards). This column is not the total of the others. The difference is due to funding by balances and other adjustments.
	(17) Includes Revenue Support Grant, specific and special grants within AEF, SSA Reduction Grant, Police Grant, Central Support Protection Grant (1999–2000 onwards) and General GLA Grant (2000–01 onwards).
	(18) Distributable amount from non-domestic rate pool. This is not exactly equal to the payments from businesses in any year, but adjustments are made to the distributable amount in future years to ensure that, over time, all rates received are redistributed to receiving authorities. Includes City Offset.
	(19) Gross of council tax benefit and council tax transitional reduction scheme.
	(20) Budgets.

Right to Buy

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the impact on the numbers of local authority tenants in London applying for the right to buy of (a) reducing the maximum discount to £25,000, (b) extending the discount clawback period to five years and (c) extending the cost floor liability period to 15 years.

Sally Keeble: No such estimates have been made. As explained in our December 2000 Housing Policy Statement "Quality and choice: a decent home for all", the Government have no proposals for further significant changes to the Right to Buy scheme.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what expenses and allowances are available to members of the shadow South West Regional Assembly.

Alan Whitehead: Expenses and allowances are a matter for the Assembly. Its accounts are published annually.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will set out the division of functions between the shadow South West Regional Assembly and (a) the South West Regional Development Agency, (b) the Government Office of the South West, (c) county councils, (d) district councils and (e) unitary authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: The South West Regional Assembly is a voluntary body. It has not statutory duties and determines its own functions. However, I understand that its top priorities for the next two years are to:
	further develop its role as the voice of the South West;
	continue to identify present and future needs of the region; and
	encourage and promote integrated policy-making for the delivery of regional objectives.
	The Secretary of State in approving the Regional Planning Guidance (RPG10) recognised the Regional Assembly as the Regional Planning Body for the South West. The Regional Assembly is therefore responsible for implementation, monitoring and reviews of RPG. I understand that the Regional Assembly is also taking forward the Regional Sustainable Development Framework, which it signed up to in December 2000.
	The purposes of Regional Development Agencies are set out in s.4 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998:
	to further the economic development and regeneration of their area;
	to promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness in their area;
	to promote employment in their area;
	to enhance the development and application of skills relevant to employment in their area; and
	to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom, where it is relevant to their area to do so.
	The Government Office for the South West manages spending programmes in the region on behalf of a range of Government Departments, carries out certain regulatory functions, sponsors the Regional Development Agency and provides a regional perspective which helps inform the development of Government policy.
	The functions of local authorities are set out in many different pieces of legislation and are summarised, for example, on the website of the Local Government Information Unit www.lgiu.gov.uk. In summary:
	counties provide the following services: education, libraries, social services, trading standards, waste disposal, highways and transport, strategic land use planning.
	districts provide the following services: housing, parks, sports, arts and entertainment, land use planning permission, environmental health, waste collection and recycling, street cleaning, council tax collection, council tax and housing benefits, electoral registration and administration.
	unitary authorities are responsible for all the functions carried out by a county and district where there are two tiers of local government.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  when he will hold a referendum to determine whether to proceed to an elected South West Regional Assembly; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will list the policy areas for which the proposed South West Regional Assembly will have executive authority.

Alan Whitehead: The forthcoming Regional Government White Paper will set out our proposals for elected assemblies for the English regions.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the budget (a) this year and (b) next year is of the shadow South West Regional Assembly.

Alan Whitehead: The Assembly receives funds from a number of sources and is responsible for its own budget. Its accounts are published annually. The Department has made available £0.5 million for the Assembly in this financial year and proposes to make available £0.6 million in 2002–03.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what powers, deriving from which statutes, can be exercised by the shadow South West Regional Assembly.

Alan Whitehead: The Assembly is a voluntary, non- statutory body. As such, it does not exercise any statutory powers or duties, and does not need specific statutory authority to carry out the activities determined by its members. However, the Assembly could not take an effective role in scrutinising the activities of the regional development agency for the South West unless the agency was required to play its part. Accordingly, provisions in the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 allow the Secretary of State to designate a chamber for the region (which is the Assembly), and to direct the agency to have regard to the chamber's views and to consult it about the exercise of specified functions.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the terms of reference are of the shadow South West Regional Assembly.

Alan Whitehead: The Assembly has no "terms of reference" set by Government. However, I understand that the Assembly has set as its top priorities for the next two years:
	to further develop its role as the voice of the South West;
	to continue to identify present and future needs of the region; and
	to encourage and promote integrated policy-making for the delivery of regional objectives.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the members of the shadow South West Regional Assembly, indicating in each case the reason for their membership.

Alan Whitehead: Membership is a matter for the Regional Assembly.

South West Regional Assembly

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many staff are employed by the shadow South West Regional Assembly; and how many staff will be employed next year.

Alan Whitehead: "South West Regional Assembly" is the name used by the regional chamber designated by the Secretary of State under s.8 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. It is not a "shadow" body of possible future elected regional assembly for the South West, but a voluntary body which has been recognised by Ministers for the purposes of scrutiny of the South West Regional Development Agency.
	Staffing levels are a matter for the Assembly.

Voting

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will calculate the proportion of (a) United Kingdom residents and (b) council tax payers who do not have the right to vote in local authority elections; if he will calculate the total amount of council tax revenue received from residents who do not have the right to vote in local authority elections; and if he will list the 20 local authorities in receipt of the highest proportion of revenue from residents not entitled to vote.

Alan Whitehead: The information necessary to make the calculations is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Voting

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to make voting from overseas easier for UK diplomatic staff, with specific reference to voting by post; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: Regulations, approved by Parliament, were introduced in February 2001 to allow all overseas voters, including those serving in British diplomatic posts, to vote by post if they so wish.

Firefighters (Recruitment)

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to amend departmental guidance in relation to the recruitment and retention of people with diabetes as firefighters to take account of EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC.

Alan Whitehead: My Department is reviewing the existing guidance to the fire service on the employment of people with diabetes as firefighters. Key interest groups will be consulted, and the review will take account of all relevant legislation.

Departmental Expenditure

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions by how much his Department underspent its expenditure limits in the financial year 2000–01.

Alan Whitehead: Provisional outturn against departmental expenditure limits for 2000–01 is published in the Public Expenditure 2000–01 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243), which is available in the Library. Final outturn against departmental expenditure limits for 2000–01, adjusted to take account of machinery of government changes in 2001–02, will be published in May 2002 in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2002–03.

Rail Safety

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 26 February 2002, Official Report, column 1169w, on safety training for railway employees, what information is collated by the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) individual railway companies on the number of railway employees who hold certificates of competence to work on railway tracks; what information about this was collected by British Rail prior to privatisation; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Regulation 3(1) of the Railways (Safety Critical Work) Regulations 1994 requires employers to keep adequate records of any assessments undergone by safety critical employees. The Health and Safety Executive does not collate such information itself.

Rail Safety

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the non-professional railway occupations for which employees are required to hold a certificate of competence or to show that they have completed appropriate training before being allowed to perform their job; and if he will state the type of certificate or qualification which is required in each case.

David Jamieson: The Railways (Safety Critical Work) Regulations 1994 require employers to ensure that all employees carrying out work vital to the safe operation of the railways are competent and fit to carry out that work. The types of activities considered safety critical are described in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance to these regulations. This is available on the HSE website at www.house.gov.uk. Specific requirements for demonstrating competence are not set down in the regulations.

Special Advisers

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on how many occasions since 1 May 1997 (a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisers have travelled abroad in an official capacity; and if he will list the total cost, including (i) travel, (ii) accommodation and (iii) subsistence allowance, for each occasion.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 27 February 2002
	Between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2001, special advisers in the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions travelled abroad on six occasions, at an average cost of £4,000 per trip. The countries visited were Japan, USA, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, China and the Netherlands. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2000 is already in the public domain. All travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.